Wicked Game
by cleotheo
Summary: When Dumbledore discovers that Hermione is The Dark Lord's daughter and is working against the light, he vows to use the lies she's told against her and tie her loyalties to the Order. However, Voldemort and the dark are not willing to let the Order just take Hermione and they will go to any lengths to get her back where she belongs - at the heart of the dark side. Dark Hermione!
1. Prologue

**A/N – This is my new Dark Hermione story – Wicked Game. To avoid having to take a break in the middle of the story over Christmas and New Year, I've decided to post this story three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There is 35 chapters in total, including the prologue and the epilogue.**

 **As I've already said, this is a Dark Hermione story, so if you don't like Hermione on the dark side and the Order losing then this isn't the story for you. For those of you who do like a Dark Hermione, I hope you enjoy Wicked Game.**

 **Events of the books have ran differently in this story, and it starts at the end of 7** **th** **year, with people alive who were killed in the actual books before this point. The differences will be explained as the story progresses.**

* * *

 **Prologue.**

Albus Dumbledore strolled along the corridors of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, humming merrily as he went. Despite the sinister presence of Lord Voldemort in the wizarding world he saw no reason not to be cheerful. True, the war was getting more serious by the day, but being miserable and worrying wasn't going to make things any better.

After taking a longer than necessary route Dumbledore reached his destination, the head dorms. This year's head students were Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. The pair were easily the top students in their year and choosing them to be the two heads had been a simple decision. Of course Dumbledore also had an ulterior motive in paring the two teenagers together.

Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, was a known Death Eater and it was widely expected that Draco would follow the same path and pledge his allegiance to the dark. Dumbledore wasn't as convinced that Draco wanted to be on the dark so he had spoken to Hermione at the start of term and asked her to try and get closer to the Slytherin. He was hoping that if the pair became close Draco would turn to the light and they would have a valuable ally that could hopefully give them some vital information on Voldemort and his followers.

Despite not knowing the password to the head dorms Dumbledore had no problem bypassing the portrait. He was after all the Headmaster and that allowed him a few privileges. Upon entering the common room, Dumbledore found no sign of the head students. All he wanted was to speak to them about a few extra patrols so he decided he would come back later.

Just as he was turning to leave Dumbledore heard a laugh coming from the direction of the bedrooms. Realising that at least one of the head students was present Dumbledore turned back around and headed towards the three doors at the far side of the room. The middle door was the shared bathroom that Hermione and Draco shared and the two other doors led to their respective bedrooms.

Reaching the doors Dumbledore paused as he tried to figure out which room was occupied. Another burst of laughter indicated that Draco's room was the one in use but just before he was about to knock the sound of a feminine voice stopped him. Frowning at the thought of the Head Boy having a girl in his room Dumbledore prepared himself to scold the young Slytherin when he realised the voice belonged to Hermione. Wondering if she was progressing any on their plan to gain Draco's trust, Dumbledore decided to stick around and listen to what was going on.

"According to father it won't happen." Dumbledore heard Draco say and his eyes lit up as it appeared that the blond was confiding in Hermione about Lucius.

"What makes him think it won't happen?" Hermione asked.

"Father reckons it's just asking for trouble. Launching an attack on Hogsmeade will just infuriate the Order."

Dumbledore's eyes widened at the mention of an attack on Hogsmeade. This was exactly the type of information they needed if they were to survive the relentless attacks of Voldemort's forces. At the minute Voldemort had the Order outnumbered and any advantage they could get would be critical.

"I think infuriating the Order is the point of the attack," Hermione chuckled.

"Maybe, but father is going to oppose Voldemort and try and talk him out of it," Draco replied.

Hermione laughed again before she responded. "If Father's already decided that he's attacking Hogsmeade, then he's attacking Hogsmeade. You know no-one ever says no to him, in the end everyone does exactly as he wants."

"Except you of course," Draco retorted. "His little princess gets whatever she wants and she's not afraid to say no either."

"I guess that's the advantage of being his daughter. Even the darkest wizard in the world is powerless to refuse his only child whatever her heart desires."

Dumbledore gasped at the revelations and took a few steps away from the door. Looking in horror at the closed door he turned and fled from the head dorms. Hurrying back to his office, he went straight through to his private chambers where he settled down to think. Unless he had seriously misunderstood things, Hermione Granger was Voldemort's daughter and it could spell disaster for the light. With Hermione feeding information to the dark they stood no chance of defeating Voldemort. Something had to be done and it had to be done quickly.

* * *

After a fretful night's sleep Dumbledore had settled on a plan to deal with Hermione. His initial reaction had been to confront her and make it clear she was no longer welcome as part of the Order. However that still presented the problem that she knew a great deal about the Order and the information she did have could still prove crucial to Voldemort. After ruling that option out he settled for an alternative that would ensure she was loyal to the light. That plan also had the added bonus of robbing Voldemort of his daughter and hopefully making him less effective as he'd lost something precious to him.

With the plan he had decided on Dumbledore knew he needed to have a select few allies. He definitely didn't want everyone finding out Hermione's true identity, but he figured a few people should know and they would be able to help him with his plan. It was going to take more people than him to keep Hermione with the Order.

After dressing Dumbledore sent off three owls and sent a note down to Gryffindor Tower. He then settled back and waited for his guests to arrive. First to arrive were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, the two Gryffindor students he had just sent for.

"Harry, Ron, take a seat," Dumbledore said, ushering the pair through his office and into his private quarters.

"Is everything okay Professor?" Harry questioned, wondering why they were in Dumbledore's private rooms.

"Just a bit of private Order business," Dumbledore replied. "The others will be here shortly and I'll explain everything then."

As if on cue the floo in Dumbledore's office sounded and the Headmaster rushed off to greet his next visitors. A few seconds later Ron's parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley strode into the room. Molly was shocked to find her son and his best friend in Dumbledore's room and immediately questioned if they were in trouble. Once Dumbledore had reassured the Weasleys that Harry and Ron were in not trouble they settled down to find out why they'd been summoned.

Shortly after Molly and Arthur arrived the floo network sounded again and Dumbledore once again went to greet his visitors. This time he returned with Order members, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Remus was a werewolf and former Defence against the Dark Arts Professor and Sirius was Harry's godfather. The pair were also best friends and had been since school.

"What I am about to say must remain between us," Dumbledore said solemnly as he shut the door leading to the office and cast several privacy charms around the room. "We will be the only people to know what's going on and this could very well be the turning point in the war. If we mess up the dark could quite easily win the war."

"What's going on Albus?" Arthur questioned. "This is sounding very serious."

"It is," Dumbledore nodded as he took his seat. "What I'm about to tell you will come as a huge shock to you all, but I reassure you I have a plan to minimise the damage. Voldemort has a daughter, a daughter who is among us and working against us."

"Who?" Molly gasped, before looking at her son and his friend and noticing for the first time their other friend was mysteriously absent. "Not Hermione."

"Hermione!" Ron cried. "No, it's not true. She's a muggleborn, she's a good person."

"I'm afraid your mother is right," Dumbledore said. "Hermione is indeed Voldemort's child."

"How?" Ron whispered. "She's my girlfriend."

"I'm afraid that Hermione looks to have played us all for fools," Dumbledore sighed. "I'm guessing the girlfriend act was just that, an act aimed to bring her even closer to the heart of the Order."

"No." Harry shook his head. "I won't believe it. Hermione wouldn't work for the dark."

"I know this is hard to take in, but I assure you it's true," Dumbledore told the upset teenagers. "The Hermione Granger we all know is merely an illusion. An illusion created by a girl whose loyalty is to Voldemort."

"What are we going to do?" Remus asked. "You said you had a plan."

"Indeed I do," Dumbledore smiled slightly. "We're going to turn Hermione's lies into a reality."

"What? How?" Sirius asked.

"There's an old potion I've heard about that allows you to alter a person's memory on a permanent basis. I am going to alter Hermione's memories so that she doesn't know about Voldemort or anything else associated to the dark," Dumbledore explained. "Once she's taken the potion nothing will restore her memories and she'll truly be on our side. Of course I need you all to help with this."

"What do you want us to do?" Molly asked. "We'll do anything to keep Hermione on our side."

"Good, for the time being it's actually Harry and Ron that needs to do the work. School finishes in six weeks so you two have to continue on as normal. It's imperative that Hermione doesn't realise we're onto her."

"I don't know if I can do that," Ron admitted. "I thought she loved me, I thought we were going to have a life together."

"And you will, once I administer the potion," Dumbledore said. "I hate to tell you this Ron, but I think she may be involved with Draco Malfoy. But with the potion I can banish her memories of Draco and ensure she's with you. I think we need Hermione to have someone in her life in a romantic sense and all we'll be doing is turning her lies in truth. All the memories she already has of being with you will be intensified and it makes it easier to plant the false memories. Of course if you're not up for it, I could rethink things."

"So if she takes this potion, she'll be mine," Ron said. "We'll be together properly."

"Yes, and that's exactly what I want. I want someone important in her life and that person can be you," Dumbledore replied. "I know Hermione's been talking about getting a flat once she finishes school I was thinking of adjusting the memories so it was the pair of you talking about getting a place together."

"You want Ron to go and live with Hermione? Will it be safe for him?" Arthur asked, not wanting in son in unnecessary danger.

"It'll be perfectly safe," Dumbledore reassured Arthur. "Once Hermione has the potion in her system she'll have no recollection of ever being on the dark, all she'll remember is being part of the Order and fighting against the dark."

"When do we give her the potion?" Remus asked. "We can't wait too long. Every day she's without the potion is a day she can pass on information to the dark."

"It takes a few weeks to brew, but it should be ready at the end of the year," Dumbledore replied. "Molly, she's coming home with you at the end of term isn't she?"

"Yes," Molly nodded. "She was going to stay with us as she began looking for somewhere to live. Apparently her parents would be busy moving so she reckoned it would be easier to stay with us."

Hermione had told them earlier in the year that her parents were moving to Australia, and the arrangements had been made for Hermione to stay with the Weasleys until she found a place of her own. Of course it now looked as though she'd been lying, and the story about her parents had just been an excuse to explain why they wouldn't be around anymore.

"The potion should be ready by then." Dumbledore said. "All you'll have to do is slip it to her and all traces of her dark self are removed. She will truly be the Hermione Granger she's portrayed herself to be all these years."

The group nodded in agreement and after making a few other plans they went their separate ways. Dumbledore held Harry and Ron back as he double checked they could handle the next six weeks.

"Remember it's vital she doesn't discover we know about her," Dumbledore warned. "You can't start treating her any differently."

"We won't," Harry reassured the Headmaster. "I promise Hermione won't suspect a thing."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One.**

Hermione and Draco lay on Draco's bed, basking in the afterglow of their love making and enjoying their final night together before the end of term. The following day school would be over for the year, and Draco and Hermione would have precious little time together. Draco would be returning home where he'd be officially joining the dark side, while Hermione would be staying with the Order and carrying on with her pretence of being on the light.

To be honest, Hermione was getting rather tired of pretending to be someone she wasn't. She couldn't wait for the day when she could be herself and openly support her father. Initially her presence at Hogwarts as a muggleborn had merely been a way for her to attend school safely. After her father had disappeared the night he attacked the Potters, her mother hid her away in case the Order ever discovered she existed. Luckily only a few select Death Eaters knew that Voldemort had a partner and daughter, so the Order never even realised she existed.

As she got older and it grew nearer to the time she was due to start school, her mother contacted a couple of good friends among the Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. Between the pair of them they made sure her name was down as a muggleborn, and Snape gave her advice on how to avoid being sorted into Slytherin. Hermione had hoped she would be sorted into Ravenclaw, but for some reason she was sorted into Gryffindor.

Even though Harry Potter was also in Gryffindor, Hermione had no intention of befriending him until the troll incident at Halloween. When she told Snape about what had happened, he encouraged her to forge a friendship with Harry as it might be useful at a later date. Sure enough, her friendship with Harry had meant she was right in the thick of the action when her father finally managed to return and Dumbledore reformed the Order. Her father had been particularly pleased she was so close to the Order, and encouraged her to remain with them and pass on valuable information.

Throughout school, Hermione hadn't really minded being a spy for her father, but now school was finishing she would rather be finished with her job. However, the war was still raging on and her father needed her to remain with the Order. Even though Snape was also acting as a spy, she knew things the Potions Professor didn't as not all of the Order trusted that Snape was truly on the light.

Even though Hermione understood why she needed to remained with the Order for the time being, she would much rather be heading back home with Draco and starting her life with him. Draco hadn't discovered who she was until her father had returned at the end of fourth year, but romance had soon blossomed between them. They'd now been together for nearly three years, and their relationship was very serious.

"You look deep in thought," Draco remarked, bringing Hermione back to the present.

"I'm just wishing I could be going home with you tomorrow," Hermione said with a frustrated sigh. "I'm getting sick and tired of the lies."

"It won't be for long," Draco said confidently. "Your father will defeat Dumbledore and Potter."

In actual fact, it was Harry that was proving to be the problem for Voldemort. The Dark Lord was confident he could take Dumbledore out in a battle, but things were different with Harry. Following his return, he'd come to realise that a part of his soul resided in Harry's body. Without meaning to, he turned Harry into a Horcrux. That meant he would have to destroy the Horcrux to destroy Harry, so Voldemort was looking into ways of removing the piece of his soul without destroying it, and that meant until he found an answer, Hermione was best utilised remaining with the Order.

"I know," Hermione said. "But don't you find it frustrating that we're about to leave school but we still can't be together properly."

"I think you're more annoyed about having to stay with the Weasels for a few weeks," Draco chuckled. He knew from previous conversations that Hermione was most annoyed by having to stay with the Order until she found a place of her own.

"Let's hope that doesn't last very long," Hermione retorted, her face a mask of disgust. "I'm not exactly looking forward to living with Molly Weasley. The woman drives me crazy with her fussing around. And then there's Ron. It really wasn't a good idea to pretend to date him, I'm running out of excuses to not sleep with him."

"You only agreed to go out with him because he was starting to cause trouble," Draco pointed out. "If you kept turning him down, he would have stopped talking to you and we both know Potter would have taken his side. By now, you would have been phased out of the Order."

"It still doesn't make pretending to date him any easier," Hermione argued. "And living together will be even worse. He'll be slobbering all over me all the time."

"You never know, now he's leaving school and will be more involved with the Order, he'll be more likely to have an accident," Draco said with an evil grin. "In fact, I think I might make it my main aim once I receive the mark."

"I love it when your dark side shows," Hermione chuckled darkly. "It's so sexy."

"Really?" Draco raised an eyebrow at Hermione as he suddenly rolled over and pinned Hermione's naked body underneath him. "I'll show you sexy."

Hermione giggled as Draco pounced on her and connected their lips. Suddenly talking about the future was the last thing on her mind as her body instantly responded to Draco's touch. She could worry about the future tomorrow, for now she was going to enjoy one final night with her boyfriend before they were separated for who knows how long.

* * *

Hermione took one final look at Draco across the crowded platform of Hogsmeade station, before she boarded the Hogwarts Express behind Harry and Ron. The three Gryffindors settled in a compartment, and within minutes several more of their friends had joined them. Ron's younger sister, Ginny, immediately settled herself on Harry's lap while Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood took seats next to Hermione and Ron. Moments later Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan slipped into the compartment and took the remaining space in the compartment.

"Can you believe we've finished?" Dean asked with a wide grin as the train started to move.

"No more school," Seamus cheered.

"Speak for yourself," Ginny grumbled. "Some of us have another year to go."

"It'll fly over Gin," Harry reassured his girlfriend. "Before you know it, you'll be finished and starting your life outside of Hogwarts."

"If there's a life to start once I've finished school," Ginny muttered seriously. "The way things are going, the dark will be in charge by then."

A fortnight ago the Death Eaters had attacked Hogsmeade and the Order had sustained a few losses. With each passing day the dark seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but luckily the Order were stopping things from getting too bad. Dumbledore had a firm grip on Hogwarts, and the Ministry was proving impenetrable for the Death Eaters. But everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Voldemort managed to gain the upper hand and exerted his growing control over the wizarding world.

"The dark will never take charge," Harry insisted. "Dumbledore will never let that happen."

"There's only so much he can do though," Ginny pointed out with a sigh. "He can't bring You Know Who down on his own."

"He's not on his own," Ron said. "He's got the Order behind him. We will win, and we will defeat the bastard."

"Let's just hope Dumbledore has a plan to end all this," Neville said quietly.

"Don't worry, he'll think of something," Harry said, sharing a secretive smile with Ron.

Sitting staring out of the window, Hermione missed the secret look Ron and Harry shared. She wasn't bothered about the conversation going on around her, all she was thinking about was getting a start on her flat hunting. She had some money in the bank from her father that she would say was from her muggle parents, and hopefully that could secure her a decent place to live. Once she had somewhere to live, she could then remain with the Order but still have enough privacy to see Draco and her family often enough.

Hermione spent the rest of the journey looking out of the window and thinking about the future, but luckily everyone else were having enough fun that they didn't notice she'd been quieter than normal. Unbeknown to Hermione, Harry and Ron had noticed she was being quiet and had made sure she never left their sights for the entire trip home. Luckily Hermione never made any move to leave the compartment, so she never noticed the looks she was receiving from the two boys.

When the train pulled into King's Cross Station, Hermione alighted with the Weasleys and made her way over to where Molly and Arthur were standing with Sirius. Molly instantly gave everyone a hug, including Harry and Hermione, and checked they'd all had a good year at school.

"We're heading to The Burrow for dinner," Sirius told Harry.

"Excellent," Harry beamed. He'd been living with Sirius since his godfather's pardon at the end of third year, and while it was good to live with someone who cared for him, Sirius wasn't the best cook. Luckily they spent a lot of time with the Weasleys, meaning he sampled plenty of Molly's lovely cooking.

Making sure everyone had everything, Molly, Arthur and Sirius gathered up the luggage and escorted the four teenagers back to The Burrow. When they arrived at The Burrow, Sirius placed Harry's luggage to one side while Arthur ensured the rest went off upstairs.

"Hermione, I've put you in with Ginny," Molly said. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," Hermione replied, forcing herself to smile at the older witch. "I'm very grateful you're letting me stay here until I've got somewhere to live."

"You're welcome, dear," Molly said, giving Hermione a wide smile. "Now, I'm off to start dinner. I'll call you when it's ready."

With Molly heading off into the kitchen to get dinner started, everyone else settled in the front room. Sirius and Arthur asked about the teenager's time at school before conversation shifted to what Harry, Ron and Hermione were going to do now they'd graduated. Harry and Ron had both signed up for Auror training, which would begin at the end of August. The pair had both chosen Auror training as it was perfect for helping them with Order business. In fact the Order actually had two active Aurors and a former Auror among their more prominent members. Hermione meanwhile had been debating between signing up for healer training, or taking a course at the Ministry to enable her to become a lawyer. In the end she'd plumped for the lawyer course as it may help her father if she had inside information about the Ministry as well as the Order.

"When does your course start, Hermione?" Sirius asked.

"The end of August," Hermione replied. "I start the day before Harry and Ron begin their training."

"I can hardly believe the three of you are ready to begin work," Arthur remarked with a wistful look in his eye. "I can still remember when you were just starting school. You were all so little."

"I know, I can still remember meeting the three of them for the first time," Sirius added with a chuckle. "They seemed so young."

"I was nearly fourteen," Harry protested. "I wasn't little."

"I was fourteen," Hermione said. "Although, I may have been little. I didn't really start growing until fourth year."

"The same can't be said for Ron," Harry laughed. "By third year he was starting to shoot up. He was so lanky."

"What do you mean, was? He still is," Ginny joked.

"I am not lanky," Ron argued with a pout.

"You are a bit," Hermione said, patting Ron on the arm as everyone laughed.

While everyone was laughing and joking in the front room, Molly was busy putting the finishing touches to dinner in the kitchen. Pouring drinks for everyone, Molly carefully placed the glasses on the table. Luckily everyone had a seat they normally sat at, so it was easy to pour the contents of the small potion bottle Dumbledore had given her earlier that day in Hermione's drink.

"Dinner's ready," she called, once the bottle was safely hidden at the bottom of the bin.

Molly watched carefully as everyone trooped into the kitchen and took their seats around the table. When Hermione took her usual seat and immediately took a small drink of her juice, Molly breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now all they had to do was wait and see if the potion worked the way Dumbledore said it would. According to Dumbledore the potion would work its way through her system overnight and by the morning she would believe everything she'd ever told the Order. By tomorrow morning, Hermione would no longer remember being Voldemort's daughter. She would just be Hermione Granger, a muggleborn witch, fighting with the Order.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

In the kitchen of The Burrow, Molly, Ron and Harry sat at the breakfast table waiting for Hermione to come downstairs. They were all waiting to see if the potion had worked. If it seemed as though the potion had worked, Harry was going to take Ginny out for a few hours and Molly was going to mention the joint flat to Hermione and Ron. The trio just hoped everything had worked as Dumbledore had expected, otherwise they would need to contact the Headmaster and hope he had a back-up plan. Whatever happened, they couldn't afford to let Hermione carry on as she'd been doing. Who knows what damage she'd already caused by passing information over to her father.

At the sound of feet on the stairs, the three looked up but were disappointed when it was only Ginny entering the kitchen. Luckily they were all able to cover their disappointment and Ginny never noticed a thing as she sat down at the table.

"Do you want cereal or scrambled eggs?" Molly asked her daughter as she got to her feet.

"Eggs please," Ginny replied, smiling at her mother before she turned her attention to her brother and her boyfriend. "You two are up awfully early."

"We're just excited to be free," Harry replied with a smile.

"Seriously, what are you doing up so early?" Ginny questioned.

"Sirius was heading off on Order business with Lupin, so I decided to come here for breakfast," Harry answered. "After you've had your breakfast, I thought we could go for a walk."

"I'd like that," Ginny said. "And what's your excuse?" she asked her brother.

"Harry woke me up so I decided to get up and have breakfast," Ron answered. "Besides, if you and Harry are heading out I might get some time alone with Hermione."

Happy with the answers her boyfriend and brother had given, Ginny didn't ask any more questions as Molly placed her breakfast in front of her and she began to eat. Ginny was barely halfway through her plate of eggs when there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs again, and this time Hermione entered the kitchen.

"Morning everyone," she said sunnily.

"Morning, Hermione," Molly greeted. "What would you like for breakfast, cereal or scrambled eggs?"

"Eggs sound great," Hermione replied as she slid into the empty seat beside Ron.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron said, smiling at the brunette witch.

Before Hermione had a chance to respond, Ron leaned forward and connected their lips. Now he knew the truth about Hermione, he'd admitted to himself that Hermione had never really let him kiss her before. After a brief kiss she would always back off, however if the potion had worked he figured she would be more keen to kiss him. Sure enough, Hermione definitely kissed him back and was into the kiss before she gently pushed him away.

"Ron, your mother's only over there," she hissed, blushing bright red as she noticed the way Harry and Ginny were smirking at them.

"Don't mind me, I've seen young love before," Molly called.

Hermione chuckled lightly and gave Ron another quick kiss, before pouring herself some juice. When Molly placed Hermione's breakfast in front of her, Ron gave his mother a subtle nod. There was a noticeable change in Hermione, and for the first time she was acting as though she really did care about him. Ron just wished her feelings were real, not because of a potion, but he was willing to take whatever he could get. This was Hermione's life now, and he was her boyfriend, not Draco bloody Malfoy.

When Ginny was finished her breakfast, Harry mentioned going for a walk again and the redheaded witch rushed off to get ready. When she returned they headed outside, leaving Hermione and Ron alone with Molly.

"We could go for a walk as well," Hermione said to Ron. "I would have said we should go with Harry and Ginny, but I got the impression Harry wanted to be alone with Ginny."

"Before you go anywhere, I want to talk to the pair of you about something," Molly said. Waving her wand over the dishes to finish washing them, Molly joined the two teenagers at the kitchen table. "I hope you don't think we've been interfering, but Arthur and I have been talking. We know the pair of you wanted to look for a flat together, so we took the liberty of viewing a few places. We found one place that's ideal, and if you like it it's yours."

"Mum, that's great," Ron beamed. Turning to Hermione, he watched her reaction. This was the major test and if she showed resistance here it meant the potion hadn't worked.

"Molly, you really didn't have to go to so much trouble," Hermione said. "I'm sure Ron and I would have found somewhere eventually."

"I know what it's like when you're young and want to start a life together," Molly said, smiling widely as Hermione went along with the idea without argument. "We thought we would save you all the hassle. We can go and view the flat this afternoon, and if you like it we can sign the lease. And if you don't, I can help you find somewhere else."

"Thank you Molly," Hermione smiled. Standing up she walked over to the older witch and gave her a hug. "You've been so kind to me, and I really appreciate it."

"You're family," Molly replied, pecking Hermione on the cheek before she stood up. "I've got a few chores to do this morning, but after lunch we can go and visit the flat."

"Thanks Mum, you're the best," Ron said.

Taking hold of Hermione's hand, Ron led his girlfriend out into the back garden. Walking hand in hand the pair exited the garden and headed off to the nearby lake that was about a ten minute walk from The Burrow. Arriving at the lake, the couple sat down on the grass and began to talk about their future.

Ron was thrilled with the potions results, and for the first time he felt as though he had a proper girlfriend. Not only was Hermione happy to talk about their flat and what it would be like living together, but she was also more willing to indulge in a real make-out session. Less than an hour after arriving at the lake, Ron had Hermione lying underneath him as his hand snuck under her top. Normally Hermione would stop any attempts to feel her up, but this time she only pulled Ron closer and moaned into his mouth as he felt her breasts for the first time.

By the time pair headed back to The Burrow, they'd done more than they'd ever done before. Not only had Ron managed to feel Hermione's breasts, but she'd allowed him to explore under her skirt as well. Only the fact they'd been due back for lunch had stopped them going any further. Even so, Ron had high hopes that he'd have Hermione in his bed within a few days.

Over lunch, Hermione excitedly told Harry and Ginny about their potential flat. While Ginny was gushing over the thought of Hermione and Ron moving in together, Harry, Ron and Molly were exchanging satisfied looks. As soon as the flat was secured, Molly would get in touch with Dumbledore and tell him the plan was running exactly to plan.

After lunch, Molly took Hermione and Ron to view the flat Dumbledore had found for them. The flat was actually really nice, in a secure building where Voldemort had no influence, but even if it had been a dive Molly had warned Ron that they were taking it. Luckily, Hermione fell in love with the place as soon as she saw it and by the end of the afternoon she and Ron were the lease holders.

* * *

"To Hermione and Ron," Arthur cried, raising his bottle of beer. "May they have many happy years here."

"Hermione and Ron," everyone chorused.

Hermione and Ron exchanged an amused look as everyone toasted them. It was just over a week since they'd signed the lease on the flat and they'd just moved in with the help of Ron's family, Harry, Sirius and Remus. For the last week Hermione, Molly and various members of the Weasley clan had been decorating the flat, but over the course of the day everyone had not only helped Hermione and Ron move their stuff in, but they'd helped unpack as well. Now Hermione and Ron had the perfect flat, and all they had to do was enjoy it.

"Thank you all for helping," Hermione said, smiling at the gathered group. "We never could have done all this without you."

"It's our pleasure," Fred Weasley replied, grinning at Hermione and Ron.

"Yeah, we love spending our day hauling furniture around," George added with a mischievous smirk that let everyone knew he was joking.

"You didn't haul any furniture," Ron pointed out to his brother. "You were sorting boxes in the spare room."

"Those boxes were bloody heavy," George protested. "They contained Hermione's books."

"Poor George, they were probably the heaviest things in the flat," Hermione laughed. She had a lot of books and knew the boxes she'd packed them in weighed an absolute ton.

"You idiot, you should have picked lighter boxes," Fred said to his twin. "I was unpacking clothes. I got to see tons of underwear."

"Fred Weasley, how dare you unpack Hermione's underwear," Molly scolded, hitting her son on the arm.

"He didn't," Hermione said with a puzzled frown. "I made sure no-one but me touched those boxes. I unpacked all my clothes myself."

"I never said I saw Hermione's underwear. I said I saw underwear. Unfortunately they were Ron's," Fred said with a dramatic shudder. "I'm going to be scarred for life."

"Suddenly books don't seem too bad," George laughed.

Everyone chuckled at the twins, and the light-hearted banter continued until Molly announced it was time to leave. Ron and Hermione made sure they thanked everyone as they left. Finally there was just Harry and Sirius left, and after arranging to see their best friend the following day, the couple were finally left alone.

"I thought they would never leave," Ron said with a dramatic sigh as he pulled Hermione into his arms.

"You should be grateful for all their help," Hermione said, wrapping her arms around Ron's neck and giving him a quick kiss. "Without them, we'd still have all the unpacking to do. As it is, we're all settled in."

"I suppose it does mean we have time to christen the flat," Ron replied with a cheeky smile. They'd been so busy with the flat over the course of the last week that he still hadn't managed to get Hermione into bed, but he knew the time had finally arrived to bed his girlfriend.

"I suppose it does," Hermione replied.

Taking hold of Hermione's hand, Ron led her into their bedroom. Trying not to let on how nervous he was, he quickly ripped off his clothes and set about divesting Hermione of hers. Hermione was rather taken aback by how quickly Ron got them undressed and onto the bed, but she didn't complain as he boyfriend began to kiss and caress her.

Hermione didn't protest when Ron then proceeded to make love to her, unfortunately she wasn't blown away by his performance either. While the sex was completely satisfactory, Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit let down as she lay in his arms once they had finished. In her mind, their sex life was pretty smoking and quite adventurous, but that didn't quite match up to what she'd just experienced. However, they had been working hard all day and it was very possible that Ron was just tired and not quite up to his usual standards.

"I can't believe we've got our own place," Ron sighed happily, brushing his lips over Hermione's curls.

"It is pretty amazing," Hermione replied.

"It is," Ron agreed. "I love you, Hermione."

"I love you too, Ron," Hermione replied automatically. Pushing aside her queries over his lacklustre sexual performance, she snuggled into her boyfriend and within a few minutes she'd drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Ron watched Hermione sleeping with a smug smile on his face. She was his now, and there was nothing Malfoy or Voldemort could do about it. Her memories of them were gone, and now her loyalty was firmly with the Order and her heart belonged to him. Still smiling, Ron settled down with Hermione and drifted off to sleep with the witch he loved wrapped securely in his arms.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N – I want to thank people for reading this story. I know the last chapter contained some disturbing bits, and it's good to know that people are going to stick with the story and see where it goes. I did seriously consider putting a warning before the chapter, but I decided against it as it would have given away the fact that the potion had worked. Although, I did try and write the parts with Hermione and Ron as carefully as I could, and while it was clear what was happening, I was very aware of not giving too many details. However, if anyone was upset that I didn't give a warning before the chapter I apologise. I can promise that there is no further similar scenes. Normally I wouldn't have included such bits, but they were vital to the story and the route it's now going to take. Thanks for reading, and I hope you stick with it to see Ron get exactly what is coming to him.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three.**

Landing in the front hallway of the manor, Draco let out a relieved sigh. It was good to be home after so many weeks away. Draco had just spent the last four weeks travelling Eastern Europe with his father, doing both a bit of family business and a bit of Death Eater business at the same time. A week after finishing school, Draco had taken the Dark Mark alongside his friends, Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and was now a fully-fledged Death Eater.

"Go and get changed," Lucius said to his son. "I'll let the Dark Lord know we're back, I'm sure he'll want to talk to us about our trip."

Draco headed up to his room, eager to get showered and changed so he could see the Dark Lord. Not only did he want to impress Voldemort as a new Death Eater, he also wanted an update on Hermione. It had been seven weeks since the end of term, and in that time Draco hadn't seen or heard from his girlfriend. Obviously, he'd been away for the last four weeks, but there'd been no word from Hermione in the three weeks before that either.

Draco hadn't been overly concerned that they hadn't heard from Hermione in the initial three weeks after leaving school. He'd understood that it wouldn't be easy for Hermione to find a flat and leave the Weasleys too quickly. In actual fact Voldemort could have sorted Hermione a flat in an instant, but they knew that would have aroused the Order's suspicions. So Hermione was stuck having to find a place with their help, which would undoubtedly take longer to sort. However, Draco was confident that in the four weeks he'd been away with his father that Hermione would have been in touch. Hopefully, Voldemort would have her address so he could arrange a visit with his girlfriend.

Looking forward to seeing his girlfriend in the near future, Draco quickly showered and changed. Once he was ready, he headed downstairs where he found his father was already changed and sitting talking to his mother in the living room. Narcissa immediately jumped up and greeted her son.

"How was your trip?" she asked as she returned to her seat next to Lucius.

"Great," Draco grinned, taking a seat opposite his parents. "I really learnt a lot."

"He was very helpful," Lucius said. "I think he's going to be an asset for the business."

"And hopefully for me as well," a voice from the doorway said.

The three Malfoys turned at the sound of the voice and found Voldemort standing in the doorway.

"My Lord." Lucius inclined his head towards Voldemort as the dark wizard entered the room.

"Would you like some tea?" Narcissa asked as Voldemort settled himself in a chair beside the fire.

"That would be very nice, Narcissa," Voldemort replied.

Narcissa called for a house elf and ordered some tea. Once the elf returned with the tea, she made sure everyone had a drink before taking her cup and excusing herself.

"So Lucius, will Draco be an asset to me?" Voldemort questioned once Narcissa had closed the door behind her, leaving the trio alone to talk.

"I think he will be," Lucius replied. "He was very useful on our trip."

"Good." Voldemort nodded happily, before turning his red eyes on Draco. "And what did you think, Draco? Did you learn anything?"

"I learnt that you have far more influence than I'd thought," Draco answered honestly. He knew The Dark Lord was poking about in his mind, to make sure he was being honest with him. "I didn't know your influence stretched so far across Europe."

"If you and your father have had a successful trip, my influence will be expanding even further," Voldemort retorted.

Turning to Lucius, Voldemort began to receive a full update on what the two Malfoys had been up to for the last four weeks. Alongside their business pertaining to the family firm, the pair had visited a couple of Voldemort's Eastern European strongholds of Death Eaters. A few of the higher ranked Death Eaters had been charged with recruiting more followers, and Lucius had been checking their numbers were growing steadily. They'd also paid a visit to Durmstrang, where school was just about to reconvene, to check that the headmaster was still recruiting some of his brighter students to the cause.

Voldemort smirked happily as Lucius filled him in on the successful trip. "Excellent. Now if only we could make some progress in this country."

"Are we still no nearer taking control of the Ministry?" Lucius checked.

"We're getting there slowly," Voldemort replied with a sigh. "I've got a few people inside the Ministry, but the Order are holding on strong. They're also doing the same with Hogwarts. But when we get the Ministry, we'll get the school as well."

"At least you've got Hermione in the Ministry now," Draco said. "She might give us something useful. She's been great with the Order so far."

"She has," Voldemort agreed with a fond smile. His daughter had been invaluable to him since his return, and it was a great relief for him to know she was poised to deliver Potter into his hands the second he'd solved the Horcrux dilemma.

"Speaking of Hermione. How's she settling into her new place and Ministry course?" Draco asked.

"I have no idea," Voldemort answered with a shrug. "I haven't spoken to her since before she left Hogwarts."

"You mean, she hasn't been in touch since the end of term?" Draco questioned with a frown. "That was seven weeks ago. She should have been in touch by now."

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Voldemort said, picking up on Draco's concern. "Hermione knows that she's to return home if she's even the slightest bit worried her cover has been blown."

"Maybe she hasn't managed to find a flat yet," Lucius suggested. "You know what those Weasleys are like, they'll not want her to leave and live alone."

"And if she's still staying with them, she won't have had the opportunity to get in touch," Voldemort pointed out.

"Is she at least at the Ministry?" Draco checked.

"According to my sources, she started her course as expected," Voldemort replied. "If there was any news, she would have been in touch."

"Would there really be no news for seven weeks?" Draco asked in disbelief. "Surely something's happened."

"I doubt it," Voldemort snorted. "Dumbledore reacts to what we do, his approach is reactive not proactive. My guess is he's worked out a way to try and protect Potter some more, and nothing else. He'll be waiting to see what our next move will be."

"I still think she should have been in touch," Draco muttered, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

Over the course of their relationship, the pair had never had any particular way of getting in touch. They usually just relayed messages through Snape, before they were roomed together in seventh year and didn't need the Potions Professor's help any more. However, they had discussed communication after they'd left school and decided that it wasn't necessary. Once Hermione had her own flat, they'd figured it would easy for them to keep in touch. However, Draco was now wishing he had a way of getting in touch with his girlfriend.

"If you're worried we can get Severus to check up on her," Voldemort said. "School restarts in a few days and Severus will be back to attend meetings. He can fill us in on the situation after he's attended his first Order meeting."

"What do you mean Severus will be back? Where's he been?" Draco asked. It was suddenly occurring to him that he hadn't seen Snape all holidays, even before he'd left with Lucius there'd been no sign of the Potions Professor.

"He was doing a bit of business for me at the beginning of the holidays, but for the last few weeks he's been away on Order business," Voldemort explained. "I need to find out about that when I see him, I can always ask him about Hermione as well."

"Thank you," Draco said with a relieved sigh. "I appreciate it."

"Even though I'm sure she's fine, I'd still like to be sure," Voldemort said. "She is my daughter after all, and if anything happens to her there'll be hell to pay."

Draco smirked at the fire in Voldemort's eyes. Even though he didn't show his emotions very often, when he did it was always in regards to Hermione. He may be a dark wizard, but there was no doubt that Voldemort loved his daughter more than anything in the world.

* * *

On the evening of the Order meeting Severus had been due to attend, Voldemort was sitting in Lucius's study, patiently waiting for his spy to arrive. He used Lucius's house to meet Severus so if Dumbledore ever looked into where his Potions Professor was going on an evening it would only show up he was going to the manor. Dumbledore knew full well where the manor was located, even though he couldn't breach the extensive wards surrounding the place, but Voldemort wasn't risking the old headmaster finding out exactly where he himself lived.

Voldemort only had a short wait before the fire in the corner lit up and Severus stepped out of the flames. Brushing himself down, the potions master bowed respectfully to The Dark Lord, before taking a seat in front of the other wizard.

"I take it you're well, Severus," Voldemort said, summoning two glasses of firewhisky he'd taken the liberty to pour from Lucius's supply.

"I am," Severus answered, thanking Voldemort as he took the drink he was offered.

"And was your Order business a success?"

"I have no idea," Severus replied with a frown. "But I can say Dumbledore is looking into your life very closely. He had me down on the south coast, checking out a coastal resort you supposedly visited in your youth. I spent two weeks mapping the area in detail, before Dumbledore arrived with Potter in tow. Dumbledore then told me to come home, and he and Potter remained there for several more hours."

"Interesting," Voldemort mused with narrowed eyes. He had no idea if Dumbledore had found what he expected, but he made a mental note to visit the resort as soon as possible to check if things had been disturbed. "Just how closely is he looking into my life?"

"As close as he can," Severus replied. "He seems to be tracking your movements from before you started Hogwarts."

"Do you think Hermione's identity is safe?" Voldemort asked. "She needs pulling out if there's any risk of Dumbledore even discovering she exists."

"That will all depend on how well you've hidden your relationship with Hermione's mother," Severus said. "I have heard him mention numerous times that there are periods of your life that are shrouded in mystery. Let's hope your relationship with Adele and Hermione are included in those mysterious times."

"Keep a close ear out, Severus," Voldemort warned. "I need to know if he discovers anything about Adele and Hermione."

"I'll keep you posted," Severus responded with a nod. He was good friends with Voldemort's partner and he would do whatever it took to make sure she and Hermione were safe.

"Speaking of Hermione, how is she?" Voldemort asked. "She hasn't been in touch yet, and Draco is a bit worried. Her mother's a bit anxious as well. I'd like to tell them both not to worry."

"She wasn't actually at the meeting," Severus said. "She was asked after, but Molly Weasley said she was feeling under the weather. I don't think it's anything to worry about though, no-one seemed particularly worried and both Potter and Weasley were at the meeting."

"So, she's still with the Weasleys," Voldemort said, a wave of relief flooding his body. If his daughter was still with the Weasleys it would definitely explain why she hadn't been in touch.

"It appears that way," Severus replied. "I couldn't really ask, as I wouldn't be able to explain how I knew she was planning on getting her own place. But Molly answered the questions about Hermione, and she gave the impression she was looking after her."

"Keep me posted," Voldemort ordered. "Next time you see her, make it clear I want to see her. Even if she's still with the Weasleys she can spare me an hour."

"I'll pass the message on," Severus said as he finished his drink and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I need to be getting back to school."

"Of course," Voldemort nodded in understanding. "Goodnight Severus."

Once the Potions Professor had exited the room, Voldemort got to his feet and headed off to speak to Draco. At least now he could reassure the blond wizard that Hermione was fine and would be in touch within the next few weeks. As Voldemort delivered the news to Draco, neither wizard could know that in the centre of London in the flat she shared with Ron, Hermione was discovering some life changing news.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four.**

Molly was in the midst of changing the beds when she felt the wards of The Burrow shudder as someone passed through them. Moments later, she heard the back door fly open and her youngest son's voice calling for her.

"Up here," she called back to Ron, wondering what he wanted in the middle of the day.

The sound of Ron's feet pounding up the stairs reverberated through the whole house as he quickly made his way up the stairs. Molly was about to scold Ron for running in the house, when her youngest son skidded to a stop in front of the open bedroom door. The sight of Ron, slightly out of breath, and looking pale and shaky, stopped any protests Molly was about to make. Instead, she felt a rush of panic and prayed that nothing had gone wrong with Hermione and the Potion they'd administered nearly two months previously.

"What's wrong?" Molly asked, rushing over to her son.

"Hermione's pregnant," Ron replied.

Unsure if Ron was going to pass out, Molly took hold of her son and guided him over to the bed. Once Ron was sitting on the freshly made bed, Molly perched beside him.

"When did you find this out?" Molly asked. Suddenly the fact Hermione hadn't been feeling well these past few weeks was making sense.

"She told me when I went home last night," Ron replied. "She'd done the test while I was at the Order meeting."

"We'll have to get it verified by a healer," Molly said. "Sometimes it's easy to cast the spell slightly wrong and get a false result."

"What if it's not mine, Mum?" Ron asked in a quiet voice. "What if it's Malfoy's baby?"

"Damn," Molly swore lowly. If the child Hermione was carrying was Draco's, then things were about to get very complicated indeed.

"What do we do?" Ron asked.

"How did you react to the news when Hermione told you?" Molly asked, deciding to get a full picture of what was going on before she answered Ron's question.

"I was shocked, but I acted as thought I was happy," Ron answered. "Even though she was clearly shocked, Hermione was pleased about the pregnancy."

"And are you happy?"

Ron shot his mother an unimpressed glare at her stupid question. "That will all depend, won't it? If it's my baby, then I'm thrilled. But if it's Malfoy's, then everything's ruined. I will not bring up Malfoy's brat."

"I need to speak to Dumbledore," Molly said. "You go back to your training, and I'll sort everything. Don't be surprised if we turn up this evening. I promise Ron, we'll sort this out."

Thanking his mother for her help, Ron headed back to the Ministry while Molly quickly finished off the beds. She then hurried downstairs and flooed Dumbledore at Hogwarts. Only telling him it was imperative that she spoke to him immediately, Molly set about making a pot of tea as she waited for the headmaster to arrive.

"I hope there's nothing wrong," Dumbledore said as he stepped out of the fire less than five minutes after Molly had spoken to him.

"I'm not sure," Molly said, handing the headmaster a cup of tea. "Ron's just been to see me. Hermione's pregnant."

"Who's the father?" Dumbledore asked, paling as he understood the dilemma a lot quicker than what Molly had done.

"I don't know," Molly answered. "That will depend on how far along she is. And to know that, we're going to need someone with medical knowledge."

"Poppy," Dumbledore said, his mind immediately turning to the school's medi-witch who was also a part of the Order. "We can trust her. We'll tell her the truth and she can examine Hermione."

"What do we do if the baby isn't Ron's?" Molly asked. "You'll never be able to pass a Malfoy off as a Weasley. Not to mention any family tapestries the Malfoys have got. A baby of Draco's will show up on that."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Dumbledore answered with a sigh. "For now, let's confirm Hermione's pregnancy and find out how far along she is. Once we have some answers, we can start making plans."

"This is just going to make things so much more complicated," Molly declared with an exhausted sigh. "What on earth will happen when You-Know-Who discovers she's pregnant? It's a miracle he hasn't reacted to her situation before now. With a baby, he's bound to strike."

Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully, not sure how to respond to Molly's worries. He himself was pretty worried that Voldemort hadn't reacted in any way to the fact he hadn't seen or heard from his daughter in almost two months. All of the Order who knew about Hermione's true identity had been on high alert and the young witch was never left alone, but Voldemort had yet to act. It was as though he either didn't know or didn't care his daughter was being kept away from him. However, a pregnancy for Hermione would surly bring things to a head. There was no way Voldemort wouldn't react when he discovered his daughter was pregnant.

"I'm going back to school and I'm going to speak to Poppy," Dumbledore announced. "Let Ron know we'll be popping round tonight. Tell him to tell Hermione it's so Poppy can have a look at her and handle her care. Once we've finished there, I want a meeting with everyone who knows the truth about Hermione. She's going to need even more protection if she is pregnant."

"And what happens if the baby is Draco's?" Molly pressed. "Ron's already made it clear he won't bring up another man's child, and frankly I don't blame him. He's with Hermione, knowing she was using him and had been lying to him, but you can't expect him to raise another man's child."

"I don't," Dumbledore reassured Molly. "We'll think of something. But let's not worry until we have the full picture. With a bit of luck the child is Ron's, and the only problem we'll have is Hermione's security."

* * *

"Really Madam Pomfrey, there was no need for you to come round," Hermione said, shooting Ron an annoyed glare.

She'd been totally shocked when Ron had told her that he'd spoken to Molly, and his mother had arranged for Madam Pomfrey to come round and confirm her pregnancy. However, Ron was insistent that Madam Pomfrey was the best person to look after Hermione during her pregnancy. He'd even mentioned not having to go to any healers at St Mungo's, but Hermione wasn't impressed with that idea. As much as she trusted Madam Pomfrey, and admitted it would be nice to deal with someone they knew really well, she still wanted to make sure they saw a healer that specialised in pregnancy and more importantly, one that knew what they were doing when it came to delivering the baby.

"We could have gone to the healers," she continued, feeling as though she was being a burden to the medi-witch.

"Nonsense," Madam Pomfrey tutted. "It's much easier for me to come to you. After all, I'm only confirming the pregnancy."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Hermione said, smiling at the medi-witch.

Madam Pomfrey smiled back at Hermione as she got everything she would need ready. With Ron and Molly hovering in the bedroom doorway, Madam Pomfrey made Hermione lie down on the bed. Once Hermione was settled, she began casting the charms that would not only detect pregnancy, but would also give them a clearer picture of when the baby was conceived.

"I can confirm you're pregnant," Madam Pomfrey announced as she tucked her wand away. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Hermione replied, beamingly happily.

"I suggest you take it easy for the next couple of weeks," Madam Pomfrey said to the brunette witch. "I'll come back in a couple of weeks to check everything's alright."

"What about healers?" Hermione asked. "Will I not need to go and see one?"

"Not yet," Madam Pomfrey replied. "I'll let you know when it's time to go and see a healer."

"Thank you Poppy," Molly said from the doorway. "We appreciate you coming."

"No problem," Madam Pomfrey replied.

Ordering Hermione to get some rest, she swept out of the bedroom with Molly following closely behind her. Ron remained in the bedroom to ensure Hermione didn't follow the two witches into the front room and overhear what they were about to discuss.

"How far along is she?" Molly asked quietly, keeping her voice down even though Hermione was safely in the bedroom.

"Between six to eight weeks," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Even the most advanced spells can't be more precise at the moment."

"Eight weeks, that's about the time school finished," Molly mused. "She could very well have been pregnant when she finished school."

"Yes, or she could have fallen pregnant within the first couple of weeks of the holidays," Madam Pomfrey pointed out. "I should be able to give you an exact date in a few weeks."

"Thanks again," Molly said, smiling at the other witch as she stepped into the flames and disappeared.

"Well?" Ron questioned, entering the front room just as the flames from the fire died down.

"Where's Hermione?" Molly checked.

"She's heading in the bath," Ron replied. "So, what's happening?"

"It's too soon to tell," Molly said. "She's six to eight weeks along."

"Eight weeks, that means it could be Malfoy's," Ron sneered.

"But anything less than eight weeks, means the baby is yours," Molly pointed out. "Have faith Ron. There's more chance this baby is yours."

"When will we know for sure?" Ron asked.

"In a few weeks," Molly answered. "Just don't let things slip, Ron. Don't start acting any differently towards Hermione. We can't afford to have her acting suspiciously."

"I won't ruin things," Ron reassured his mother. "In fact, I'm going to stay here with Hermione. Harry can fill me in on the meeting tomorrow."

Molly nodded and gave her son a peck on the cheek. She then double checked he was okay, before flooing to Grimmauld Place where an emergency meeting had been convened. Ron watched her go, wishing he was joining her, before turning round and heading back to the bathroom.

"Do you want to join me?" Hermione asked from the tub, smiling at Ron when he poked his head round the door.

"Nah," Ron replied with a shake of his head. "I just came to see if you wanted anything."

"I'm fine," Hermione replied.

"Okay, we can eat when you get out of the bath," Ron said, before pulling the door shut behind him.

Hermione let out a long sigh and sank even lower in the bubbles as the door shut behind her boyfriend. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something not quite right about her relationship with Ron. Her feelings for him were very solid and indisputable. She knew she loved him, and never doubted it for one minute. However, his actions didn't quite match her memories of their relationship. The first night in the flat she'd put his lacklustre sexual performance down to tiredness, but in the weeks since he'd failed to improve when they'd had sex. Not one time compared to the memories that sprung into her mind when she thought of being intimate with her boyfriend.

Sex wasn't the only other way in which things seemed off between them. His refusal to join her in the bath was another example. She knew for a fact they'd bathed together before, but since moving into the flat it wasn't something they'd done. They also didn't just sit and read, enjoying each other's company, which was something she had so many memories of them doing. All in all since moving in together her relationship with Ron seemed less fulfilling than it had before. The relationship they shared now, didn't really compare to the one they used to have.

Wondering if she was just being irrational because of her hormones, Hermione cut her bath short. Lying picking faults wouldn't help, what she needed to do was spend some quality time with Ron. Hurriedly drying herself and getting dressed, Hermione headed off to spend the rest of the evening with her boyfriend. She fully intended to have the perfect evening, which would banish her ridiculous thoughts from her head.

* * *

"So, it's decided," Dumbledore said, looking around the small group that were gathered at Grimmauld Place. "We keep up the tight security on Hermione. She's never left alone."

"If this goes on much longer we're going to need to bring more people in on the secret," Harry said. "We can't ask people to spend extra time with Hermione and not tell them why."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Dumbledore said. "But for now we can carry on as we have been doing. She hasn't suspected a thing so far."

"I'm beginning to think this potion has affected her brains," Harry muttered. "She would never normally be this stupid. Normally she would have picked up on the fact she's never alone."

"Normally, she wouldn't have trusted us at all," Dumbledore pointed out. "Don't forget Harry, the Hermione you've known for years was an act. She would have spotted the protection, because she didn't trust us. But with the potion she trusts us implicitly and has no reason to think we're guarding her."

"How long do you think we can go on guarding her for?" Sirius questioned. "Her father may not have struck yet, but he will. Can we protect her when he comes for her?"

"We have to," Dumbledore answered. "If he gets his hands on her, think about what will happen. His daughter is gone, and nothing will bring her back. If he discovers what we've done to her, he'll slaughter the lot of us."

"Even if we protect her and keep her out of his clutches, what happens with the baby?" Molly asked. "What do we do if she's carrying Draco's child?"

"Then unfortunately she'll have a difficult birth and be told her baby is dead," Dumbledore said. He'd been mulling over ideas all afternoon and had settled on a course of action should the baby turn out to be Draco's. "We'll smuggle the baby away and put it up for adoption."

"What if the Malfoys have a family tree?" Harry asked, remembering the one in the front room of his godfather's house. "Won't the baby show up there."

"It will," Dumbledore confirmed with a nod. "But we have no idea if the family even keep an eye on the tree. And even if they do, they won't be able to find the child as we'll not have it. But don't forget, we aim to end this war and kill Voldemort. If things go according to plan Voldemort won't be an issue for much longer, nor will the Malfoys. They'll fall alongside him, and we'll be left in peace."

"Let's hope the baby's Ron's and we don't have to worry," Arthur said. "Then all we have to do is win this bloody war."

"Don't worry Arthur, we've got that well in hand," Dumbledore said, before he turned to Harry and gave the young wizard a small smile. "Haven't we Harry?"

"Yes, we have," Harry agreed, nodding his head as he thought about the Horcrux they'd destroyed a few days earlier.

With a bit of luck, they would soon find the rest and once they were dealt with they could face Voldemort and put an end to him and his Death Eaters.

* * *

 **A/N - I just want to take a moment to address a couple of reviews I've had about people being unsure about carrying on with this story. I understand that not every story is for everyone, and I especially understand that this story in particular may contain elements that some people are uncomfortable with. I just want to take a moment to thank the people who have left those reviews for doing so nicely. So many people would use it as an excuse to leave nasty reviews, and I appreciate that the people reviewing this story have been polite. I certainly don't take any offence to someone politely informing me that a certain story is not for them, and I have a lot more respect for those people than the ones who just leave nasty reviews for the sake of it. If there is anyone else unsure about this story and the way it's going to go, I can reveal that Hermione's time with the Order is coming to an end. In a few chapters time she will be back with the dark and we see more of her feisty personality. The issue of the paternity of the baby is also resolved long before Hermione has the baby - although I would like to think that regular readers would already know who the father is. I just thought those few details might settle some nerves some people have about this story, but if people would still rather leave this story, I won't be offended. I've got lots more stories already posted and far more on the way in the future.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five.**

Severus sat quietly with his cup of tea as the Order meeting carried on around him. He rarely spoke in full meetings without being addressed, so his silence wasn't at all unusual. However, Severus had noticed a few unusual things since he'd arrived for the meeting. And each and every one of them involved Hermione.

Firstly, Hermione had been helping Molly in the kitchen when he arrived. While that in itself wasn't unusual, their interaction wasn't normal. Severus knew that Hermione found Molly suffocating and controlling, meaning she wasn't a fan of the older witch. Of course Hermione had always managed to remain polite and friendly towards Molly, but now she seemed to genuinely be enjoying her company. Within five minutes of arriving, Severus spotted Molly hugging Hermione a few times and Hermione didn't pull away as she would normally do.

As if Hermione's behaviour around Molly wasn't strange enough, it got even stranger when Ron and Harry entered the room for the meeting. When Ron entered the room, Hermione greeted him with a large smile, and more shockingly she kissed him. Severus had seen Ron try to kiss Hermione before, but she very adept at springing his advances without making it seem strange. But he'd never once witnessed Hermione initiating a kiss, least of all the passion filled one they indulged in.

Watching Hermione kiss Ron, Severus knew something was very wrong. There was no way Hermione would betray Draco by kissing Ron in such a manner. She did just enough to keep Ron thinking they had a solid relationship, but she would never do anything to encourage him to be more hands on with her. But between the kiss and the way she was acting with him afterwards, it would appear as though their relationship was genuine, not just an act to ensure no-one suspected her true identity.

As the meeting got underway, Severus continued to keep a close eye on Hermione. The entire time, she sat far closer to Ron than she would normally sit. Ron even had his arm slung casually over her shoulders, but she never made any attempt to remove it. The more he watched the more convinced Severus became that something was very wrong. He knew Hermione hadn't been in contact with Voldemort or Draco since leaving school nearly nine weeks ago, and he was beginning to think it wasn't because she had nothing to report. It was looking increasingly like she hadn't been in touch because there was something else going on with her. Possibly there was even something preventing her from getting in touch with her father.

By the end of the meeting, Severus was wondering how to get Hermione alone to talk to her. Several times he'd tried catching her eye, knowing just a simple look would be enough to convey that he wished to speak with her in private, but she'd never once acknowledged him. However, his luck seemed to be in when almost as soon as the meeting ended Hermione excused herself to go to the bathroom. Making sure no-one was paying any attention to when he was doing, Severus used the activity that always happened at the end of a meeting to slip out of the kitchen and make his way up to the bathroom, so when Hermione exited the room he would be waiting for her.

"Professor Snape," Hermione declared in surprise when she emerged from the bathroom to find her former Potions Professor hovering in the hallway. "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was waiting."

"It's quite all right," Severus replied. "I was actually waiting for you."

"Me, why?" Hermione frowned.

"I just wanted to check you were okay," Severus answered. He did want to know if Hermione was okay, but he was doubtful he would get a truthful answer out of the young witch. She was most definitely acting strange, and she was treating him as though he was nothing more than a former teacher. If he didn't know any better he would swear she wasn't aware of how friendly they actually were. "Molly mentioned you'd been feeling off colour."

"It's only natural I guess," Hermione said with a shrug. "I just wish my morning sickness would confine itself to a morning, at the minute it strikes any time of the day."

"Morning sickness?" Snape's mouth dropped open in shock as he tried to process what he was hearing. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes, but would you mind keeping it quiet," Hermione said. "I'm still in the first trimester and we're waiting until the three month mark to tell people. At the minute only a few people know, not even all of Ron's family know yet."

"I won't tell a soul," Severus promised, although he knew he was going to break the promise before the end of the day. "How far along are you?"

"We're not entirely sure yet," Hermione replied. "Madam Pomfrey is going to run further tests in a few weeks. But we're fairly confident the baby was conceived either just before I left school, or just after."

"Well congratulations," Severus said, doing his best to offer the young witch a congratulatory smile.

"Thanks," Hermione replied, smiling back at the wizard. "I'll see you at the next meeting, but I really should be going now. Ron and I are heading back to The Burrow to have dinner with his family."

Severus said goodbye as Hermione turned and headed back downstairs. Making sure he didn't look as blown away as he felt, Severus also made his way back downstairs. Grabbing his cloak, he said a brief goodbye to the members of the Order that spoke to him, before heading back to Hogwarts. After taking a moment to compose himself, Severus flooed to Malfoy Manor. As usual Severus emerged in Lucius's study, and unsurprisingly the man himself was sitting at his desk.

Lucius looked up at the sound of the floo network and smiled at his old friend. "Severus, do you want a drink?"

"I think I need one," Severus muttered as he sunk down in a chair in front of Lucius's desk. "We also need to get in touch with The Dark Lord. I have news that he and Draco will want to hear."

"Is it bad news?" Lucius questioned.

"We've definitely got a problem," Severus replied.

Lucius handed Severus a glass of firewhisky before he headed off to find Draco and summon The Dark Lord. Within five minutes an anxious Draco and a worried Voldemort were in Lucius's study. Narcissa was also present, and Voldemort had brought along Hermione's mother, Adele.

"There's no point beating around the bush, we have a problem," Severus said once everyone was ready. "Hermione was at the meeting tonight, and there's something off with her. Firstly, she was too friendly with Molly and over attentive with Ron. It's as though she wasn't acting with them. I did finally manage to get her alone, and it was as though I was nothing more than her former Professor."

"They've done something to her," Draco interrupted with a snarl. "I'm going to kill the lot of them."

"Don't be so rash, Draco," Voldemort warned. "We need more details."

"I agree that we need more details, but I agree with Draco in the respect that the Order have done something to Hermione," Severus said. "Especially with the other piece of news I found out. Hermione's pregnant."

A silence hung in the room for almost a minute, before everyone began to speak at once. As well as everyone being stunned at the news, questions were fired at Severus while threats were being issued against the Order.

"Enough!" Voldemort called, bringing silence to the room. "Severus, tell us everything you know about my daughter's pregnancy."

"She believes that Weasley is the father," Severus said, causing Draco to swear under his breath. "But for some reason they haven't yet determined how far along she is. They know the baby was conceived either just before or just after she left school. Apparently they'll run more tests in a few weeks to find out for sure when the baby was conceived."

"If they're running tests, then Weasley must have slept with Hermione," Draco said in a quiet voice. "She never would have willingly slept with him, either they've done something to her or he forced her."

"I think they've altered her memories in some way," Severus said. "It was like she believes the persona she puts on for the Order."

"Could anything like that be done?" Adele asked, angry that her daughter could have had her memories tampered with. If she had her way, Hermione wouldn't still be with the Order, but both her daughter and Voldemort had insisted she was safe.

"We can look into it," Lucius said. "If anything like that can be done, we'll find out about it."

"What I don't understand is how they don't know how far along Hermione's pregnancy is," Severus mused. "Surely magic can tell them when the baby was conceived."

"It can," Narcissa answered. "But you have to be very careful using magic on the foetus in the first few months. The baby is still developing and using magic to detect when it was conceived can cause problems. By the end of the first trimester, an accurate test can be performed to determine the exact date the baby was conceived."

"And what do you think will happen if the baby was conceived before she left school?" Draco asked as he jumped up and began to pace the room. "What will they do to my child?"

"It'll not come to that, Draco," Voldemort said. "We're getting Hermione back, as soon as possible. Draco, get your friends on board and find out everything about Hermione's life. We need to find an opening to snatch her."

"You want to treat this as though we're kidnapping her?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Voldemort replied. "If the Order have tampered with her memories, she'll not come willingly. As far as everyone else is concerned, we're just snatching a valuable asset from the Order. We will be the only ones to know what's really going on."

"And what happens when we get her back?" Adele asked. "What happens if we find out the baby is Weasleys?" As she asked her second question, she turned her attention to Draco. She knew Draco loved her daughter, but she didn't know how he would react if the child she was carrying wasn't his.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Voldemort answered. He noticed that Draco's grey eyes filled with pain whenever the paternity of the baby was mentioned, and while he didn't think for one minute believe that the youngest Malfoy would abandon Hermione, he did think that if the worst happened he would find it hard to cope. "Right now our focus is getting Hermione back with us. Once we've got her, we'll decide on our next move."

"I'll try and find out everything I can," Severus offered.

"And I'll start looking into memory altering spells and potions," Lucius said. "This sounds like something far more complex than a simple obliviate."

"Draco, I want you to start tonight," Voldemort said. "Contact your four friends and begin making plans to gain information on Hermione's life. I want to know how she spends every second of every day, and I want to know the best way to get my daughter back."

"How long do you want me to watch her?" Draco questioned. He was eager to get to Hermione as quickly as possible, but he understood that they needed to make sure they didn't mess up. They needed to get Hermione away from the Order before they knew what was happening, if they had any clue what was happening they would close ranks and it could be practically impossible to get to her.

"We need a clear picture of her movements, so give it a week," Voldemort said. "But I want a personal report every day. Once we've found a weakness, we strike. Hermione will be coming home."

Voldemort's tone left little doubt that he would be getting his daughter back, no matter what it took. They would find a way to get to her, and once she was back with them, the Order wouldn't get their hands on her again. Soon, she'd be back with them and they would find a way to fix whatever the Order had done to her. They'd get her back to normal, the alternative just wasn't worth thinking about.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six.**

After leaving Voldemort, Draco wasted no time in contacting his friends. He arranged for them to meet at a penthouse the Malfoys owned in the centre of London, rather than bring everyone to the manor. Within half an hour of his summons, Draco's four best friends were settled in the penthouse with a glass of firewhisky each.

"What's going on, Draco?" Blaise questioned his friend who was pacing the floor in front of the fire. "Why the urgent summons?"

"We've got a job from The Dark Lord," Draco answered as he stopped pacing and faced his friends. "I spoke to him just before I called you, and he gave us something very important to do."

"Why didn't he just call us all, and explain to us together?" Theo asked.

"It's none of my business how The Dark Lord chooses to operate," Draco replied, throwing Theo a look that clearly conveyed he should do the same. "He was at the manor speaking to Father, and he asked to see me. He told me what he wanted doing and informed me that I was to get help from you four."

"What are we doing?" Greg asked.

"He wants us to get a clear idea of Hermione Granger's movements," Draco replied, somehow managing to keep the emotion from his voice when he mentioned his girlfriend. "He wants to know every single thing about her life, her movements and who she spends time with."

"Why is The Dark Lord so interested in the mudblood?" Vince queried.

"He's going to kidnap her," Draco supplied, managing to shoot his friends a wicked smirk.

"Why does he want to kidnap, Granger?" Theo asked. "I thought it was Potter he wanted to kill."

"It is, but did you not pay attention at all when we were in school, Theo," Draco tutted at his friend. "Potter is useless without Granger. Granger dragged Potter and Weasley through school, without her they would have been killed long before now."

"We all agree that Granger is the brains behind the trio," Blaise said. "But Potter has the Order behind him as well. Removing Granger won't render him useless. He's still got Dumbledore and his cronies to watch his back."

"He has," Draco agreed with a nod. "But Granger is still an asset for us to have. Not only will her kidnap rattle Potter, but she'll likely know quite a bit about the Order's plans. There's a good chance she knows more than Potter himself, since she's so much smarter than him."

"A troll's smarter than Potter," Theo snorted.

"What makes you think Granger will talk?" Blaise asked.

"That's not my problem," Draco answered with a shrug. "I'm sure The Dark Lord will deal with that himself. It doesn't matter how stubborn she is, The Dark Lord will get what he wants from her."

"How are we going to go about watching Granger?" Greg questioned. "She'll soon catch on if one of us is always hanging around her."

"Greg's right, we're going to have to play this very sneakily," Blaise remarked.

"It's a good job we're Slytherins then and sneaky is something we're very adept at," Draco retorted. "Besides, I have a plan so that one of us will always be near to Granger to keep an eye on her. Theo, you're going to have to get close enough to her at the Ministry tomorrow to take a hair."

Theo worked at the Ministry as a trainee in the Department of International Co-operation, and as such he was the only person Draco could think of that stood a chance of getting near to Hermione.

"I can do that," Theo replied confidently. He hadn't seen much of Hermione around the Ministry, but he knew she was also in training in the law department so it shouldn't be too hard for him to arrange a meeting so he could snatch a hair.

"Try and get the hair to me sometime during the day," Draco told his friend. "I need to brew a tracking potion before we meet up again tomorrow evening. With the potion we'll be able to track Granger and record her movements. The Dark Lord wants to know everything, and we're going to deliver."

Draco's friends all nodded their agreement. The chance to impress The Dark Lord wasn't one to be missed. If they could shine as Death Eaters so early on, it would only bode well for the future. If they delivered what he wanted, he would be very happy with them and everyone knew Voldemort favoured the Death Eaters he trusted to fulfil whatever task he set them.

* * *

Draco was more than happy when Theo popped into his office at lunchtime the following day to drop off the hair he'd managed to snag from Hermione. Theo also mentioned that he'd gotten hold of her training schedule, meaning they would know when she was due at the Ministry and what time her breaks were. Thanking Theo, Draco carefully placed Hermione's hair in his pocket and paid a quick visit to his father, to inform him he was taking the afternoon off. Since Lucius knew exactly what his son was doing, he had no problem with Draco taking a few hours to work on getting Hermione back.

After leaving work, Draco spent the rest of his afternoon developing a tracking potion. By the time the potion was brewed and ready to be bottled, Draco had everything else he needed. Bottling the potion, Draco put it in his pocket, grabbed the other items they would need and headed off to the penthouse. By the time his friends arrived, he had everything set up on the dining room table.

"It's a map," Blaise remarked, looking at the map of the British Isles that Draco had laid across the table.

"That's one less thing I'll have to explain," Draco muttered, rolling his eyes at Blaise. "Although actually it's five maps," he added, showing his friends that he had five identical maps stacked on the table.

"How are maps going to help?" Theo asked.

"They're special enchanted maps," Draco explained. "The more you focus on one area, the more details there is. The maps also combine both the wizarding and muggle world and chart every single building, even the hidden ones."

"Impressive," Blaise said. "But that still doesn't explain how they're going to help us track Granger."

"Watch," Draco replied.

Pulling the tracking potion from his pocket, he uncorked it and tipped the deep purple liquid over the maps. The boys watched as the maps absorbed the liquid and glowed purple for a few seconds. When the purple glow faded, there was a small purple star near the bottom of the maps.

"That my friends, is Hermione Granger," Draco said, pointing to the star. Pulling out his wand, he tapped the map over the star and it zoomed in to show a map of the area where Hermione was. Draco kept tapping the map, until it was as zoomed in as it was possible to get at the moment. "Look, she's near a place called Ottery St Catchpole."

"Where are all these intricate plans you said the map showed?" Theo asked, leaning right over the map and seeing no details such as houses or buildings.

"They'll only appear when you're in the exact area," Draco explained. "From this we know roughly where Granger is. If we headed down to Ottery St Catchpole, we could zoom in ever further and get more details. From there we'd be able to track Granger to a single building."

"Cool," Theo said with an impressed grin.

Turning his attention back to the maps, Draco shrunk them to manageable size and handed one to each of his friends. "We'll use the maps to make sure we never lose Granger, but to avoid suspicion make sure you use glamour charms when it's your turn to watch her. And make sure you vary the glamours as well. We don't want her getting suspicious."

"Are we making some sort of timetable to watch her?" Blaise asked. "Because we all have jobs and responsibilities."

"You don't have responsibilities," Theo snorted. "You spend your time scoping out old buildings."

"I'm planning on buying one and doing it up into a posh hotel," Blaise retorted. "My intention is to start a business."

"We all have jobs and lives," Draco interrupted, not in the mood to listen to his friends arguing. "We'll split the timetable to hopefully best suit everyone."

Devising a timetable wasn't easy, but after nearly two hours they'd sorted out a schedule of when people were going to watch Hermione. They'd also devised a message they could send via coins if anything happened or if any of them needed back-up for some reason. It was also decided that round the clock surveillance wouldn't be necessary. Once they were sure Hermione was tucked up for the night, Draco would just keep an eye on her movements from his map.

"Theo, be ready to take the first shift tomorrow," Draco said. "I'll go and get started tonight."

"Good luck," Blaise called as the foursome departed the penthouse.

When he was alone, Draco pulled out his map again and checked Hermione was still in the same place. Satisfied she hadn't moved, Draco applied a few glamours to alter his appearance before apparating to Ottery St Catchpole. Once he arrived, Draco checked his map again and zoomed into the part of the map with the most detail. Since he wasn't a hundred percent sure where exactly he was in regards to Hermione, he cast a spell on the map to show his location as a green dot. With the two markers laid out, Draco set off to get as close as possible to Hermione.

Within a few minutes he'd left the town behind, and was into open countryside. He walked for another ten minutes, before he spotted a building in the distance. Checking his map, Draco found the building was where Hermione was located. As he got closer to the building, Draco gazed at it in bewilderment. He was looking at the most peculiar house he'd ever seen. The house towered into the night sky and was leaning dangerously to one side. Anyone could see that the only thing keeping it upright was magic.

"What a mess," Draco muttered, studying the house. It was obvious the Weasleys had extended the house as their family had expanded, but Draco didn't understand why they'd felt the need to build upwards. If they'd extended the house on the ground they would probably have a fairly decent house, instead of the higgledy-piggledy mess they lived in.

Despite his glamours, Draco approached the house with caution. While he may not have respected Weasley and his magical abilities, he wasn't going to underestimate the rest of the family. Weasley's sister was quite adept at throwing nasty hexes, and his twins brothers were practically geniuses when it came to magic and inventions. Then there was the pompous one who'd been Head Boy, he probably had a fair bit of magical skill and there was the two older brothers as well to consider. Of course there was also Molly and Arthur to think about, and while Draco had very low opinions of them both he respected the fact they were both significantly older than him and had years of magical experience behind them.

When Draco thought he was approaching the boundary line of the house, he stopped and hid himself in the shadows of a tree. He would definitely have to try and test the wards around the house, but it would be easier to do if he knew the house was either empty or there was only a couple of people inside. At the minute, he had no idea how many people were inside the house, but judging from the light streaming from almost every window the house was more than likely packed.

Leaving the protection of the tree, Draco began to walk around the house, making sure not to breach the boundary line. At the back of the house, he could clearly see into the kitchen but it seemed deserted. Moving on around the house, he finally got a glimpse into another room. This time he spotted people and was guessing he was looking in the front room. Ensuring he wouldn't be seen if anyone looked out of the window, Draco continued to look in on the Weasley family. When he spotted Hermione sitting snuggled up next to Weasley he almost lost in and went charging in, but he kept himself under control and remained outdoors.

Draco remained outside of The Burrow for almost an hour, before Hermione and Weasley got to their feet. Draco assumed the pair were heading for bed, but he got a shock when the pair flooed away from the house rather than heading upstairs. Quickly Draco snatched up his map, and reset it to its original setting. Finding Hermione's star, he zoomed in and found she was in London. Checking where he exactly was going, Draco apparated back to London with a crack.

It took Draco ten minutes to locate Hermione, and when he did he was fuming. Hermione was ensconced in a cosy flat with Weasley. Not only had the Order tampered with her memories, but they'd moved her in with Weasley. Not wanting to think about what was going on in the flat above him, Draco apparated home to the manor. Collapsing onto his bed, he set the map up beside him and cast an alert on it that would inform him the second Hermione left the flat. He'd done all he could for tonight, but tomorrow he would speak to The Dark Lord and find out everything he could about where Hermione lived. As much as he hated the thought of his girlfriend living with Weasley, the Order might have just played into their hands. Hopefully it would be a lost easier to get to her now she wasn't living with the Weasleys at The Burrow.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven.**

After a week of surveillance on Hermione, Draco's optimism about how easy it would be to snatch her had vanished. He didn't for one minute doubt The Dark Lord would get his daughter back, but it wasn't going to be as simple as they hoped. Even so, anything they did manage to achieve would be down to Draco and his friends, and the thorough job they'd done tailing Hermione. Her every action was accounted for, and they had a weeks' worth of very detailed notes about her life.

For the past week, Draco had been speaking to Voldemort daily as they discussed things. However, it was now a week since they'd first discovered something was wrong, and a larger meeting was about to take place. Voldemort and Adele had dined at the manor, before Severus turned up and the group settled in the front room to discuss things.

"So where do we stand?" Adele questioned. "Are we any nearer to getting my daughter back?"

"It's not going to be easy," Draco muttered despondently. He'd been spending all his time and energy concentrating on getting Hermione back, as when he wasn't busy his mind was overrun with painful thoughts about Hermione and the baby, and right now he wasn't able to think about dealing with the fact the woman he loved might be carrying another man's child.

"Let's start from the beginning," Voldemort said. As tough as it was going to be getting his daughter back, they were going to do it. He didn't seriously think that the Order could outmanoeuvre him, despite how wily and manipulative Dumbledore was. "Draco, tell us everything you know."

"Firstly, Hermione lives in a flat in London with Weasley," Draco began. "From what I've been able to deduce, Dumbledore found the place for them. The building is one of the only places in the country where we have no influence. The owner of the building doesn't support us, and only rents his flats to people with no connections to the dark. There's rather stringent security around the building, with anyone bearing a Dark Mark not even permitted entrance."

"How about those not bearing the mark?" Narcissa asked, wondering if she could help in some way by infiltrating the building where Hermione lived.

"We tried sending Daphne Greengrass into the building," Draco said. Daphne was Theo's girlfriend, and even though she didn't know what was going on she'd been happy to help them. "Daphne got into the building just fine, but there's extra security around the flat Hermione lives in. Someone has erected a charm around the door, so only a handful of trusted people can actually enter the flat."

"Dumbledore," Lucius muttered.

"Most likely," Voldemort agreed. "Do you know just who can pass through this barrier, Draco?"

"It's impossible to find out exactly who can and can't pass, but it seems like the Weasleys and the rest of the Order have no problems entering the flat. My guess is that they've permitted only people they trust to be able to enter the flat. They've also made sure to include everyone Hermione would expect to visit, so she probably doesn't even know the charm exists."

"What about away from the flat?" Adele asked. "Can we get to her at work?"

"Hermione arrives at the Ministry with Weasley," Draco replied. "When it's her break time, there's always someone who shows up to spend it with her. She's never left alone in the Ministry, and when she leaves it's always with Weasley and often Potter."

"Away from the Ministry," Voldemort said, gesturing for Draco to carry on with his briefing.

"Away from the Ministry she is always with someone," Draco answered with a frustrated sigh. "She's usually got either Potter or Weasley with her, but if for some reason they're both busy elsewhere, one of the Order is with her. She never goes anywhere alone, and she never leaves the flat alone. The only time she might possibly be alone is sometimes in the flat, but it's impenetrable."

"This doesn't sound at all like Hermione," Narcissa remarked with a frown. "She's the most independent girl I know. There's no way she'd accept being kept tabs on like that."

"She has to have realised that she's never alone," Adele added. "Is this part of what they've done to her, messed with her personality?"

"Until we've got her here with us, we don't know what exactly they've done to her," Lucius answered. "I've found a few spells and potions that they might have used, but until I can examine Hermione it's just speculation. And as for her personality, I suspect they've just manipulated her into thinking she trusts them implicitly. Chances are she doesn't even realise anything suspicious is going on, and if she does question them, all they have to do is say they're just being cautious because of the war."

"I still don't like it," Adele muttered. "I want my Hermione back, not this zombie the Order have turned her into."

"Don't worry, we'll get her back, Adele," Voldemort said, giving his lover's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Any idea how?" Draco asked. "We haven't found any hole in the Order's protection of her."

"I think we have two options," Voldemort answered. "We can try and get to Hermione at the Ministry, but between the amount of the Order that work there and just the general staff, it might prove tricky. Or option two, we use someone she trusts to bring her to us."

All eyes turned to Severus, as the only person on the dark who had access to Hermione.

"I'll try, but I only see her at meetings," Severus cautioned. "And there's always a large selection of the Order present. Snatching her from Headquarters will be tricky, and it'll certainly blow my cover."

"I wasn't thinking of you, Severus," Voldemort chuckled. "As you said, getting Hermione away from the Order's headquarters will be next to impossible."

"So who do you have in mind?" Draco asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Voldemort admitted. "But I'm sure we can get our hands on someone she trusts, and get them to lure her out of the flat."

"We'll have to pick someone who doesn't have overly strong connections to the Order," Draco mused. "Getting our hands on someone from the Order will be almost as hard as getting our hands on Hermione."

"I think I know the perfect person," Severus offered with a smirk, before filling the others in on what he was thinking.

* * *

Lounging on the sofa, Hermione flicked through a pregnancy magazine. She was growing increasingly excited about her pregnancy, and couldn't wait until next week when Madam Pomfrey paid her a visit to check up on the baby. At her next visit, they would be able to find out when the baby was conceived. Hermione wasn't really bothered about when exactly the baby had been conceived, but she was looking forward to finding out exactly when she was going to become a mother.

Thinking of becoming a mother got Hermione thinking of her own parents, and she wondered where she'd put her parents address. She felt guilty that she hadn't given her parents a second thought since leaving school, but she was suddenly hit with an urge to talk to them. They were about to become grandparents, and they needed to know.

Throwing her magazine to one side, Hermione stood up and tried to visualise where she'd put her personal belonging when they'd moved into the flat. Remembering a few photo albums in the bedroom, she headed off to see if any of them contained contact information for her parents. Hermione searched the albums and found nothing, so she started to rummage through her drawers. Halfway through emptying her underwear drawer, Hermione was disturbed by Molly poking her head into the room.

"Is everything okay?" Molly asked.

When Ron had gone out with Harry for the morning, she'd popped round to keep Hermione company. Hermione had insisted she was fine alone, but Molly had insisted she stayed. However, to keep out of Hermione's way, she'd made herself at home in the kitchen whipping up Ron's favourite cake and batches of biscuits.

"I'm looking for my parents address," Hermione replied. "It's just occurred to me that I haven't told them about the pregnancy. But I can't remember their address, and I can't find where I've written it down."

"I can't help you there," Molly said. "You've never given me their address."

"I have to have wrote it down somewhere," Hermione muttered.

"Have you tried summoning it?" Molly questioned. She knew there would be nothing to find as Hermione's parents had never moved to Australia, the entire thing had been a cover to explain their disappearance from her life.

"Good idea," Hermione said, pulling out her wand. She tried to summon her parents address several times, but to no avail. "It's not here," she said despondently. "Why isn't it here?"

"Maybe it was misplaced in the move," Molly suggested. "I'm sure we'll find it. I'll check at The Burrow. But if not, we can ask Dumbledore. He's bound to be able to find out what you need."

"Thanks Molly," Hermione said, smiling at the older witch.

"Now that's sorted, go and rest," Molly ordered. "I'll put the kettle on and make us a nice cup of tea, and we can have a biscuit."

Knowing it wasn't worth arguing with Molly, Hermione returned to the front room and settled back on the sofa with her magazine. However, before she could even find the page she was on, there was a knock on the door. Placing the magazine to the side yet again, Hermione got up to answer the door.

"Neville, it's great to see you," she greeted warmly, when she opened the door to find her friend.

Neville was doing a Herbology course and he spent three days a week up at Hogwarts studying under Professor Sprout, while the other two were spent studying. Because Hermione was also busy training at the Ministry, the pair had barely seen each other since leaving school a few months previously.

"Come in, Molly's just making tea," Hermione said, stepping back so Neville could enter the flat.

"Actually I came to ask you a favour," Neville said as he entered the flat. "It's Luna's birthday next week and I was hoping you could give me some advice on what to get her. I was hoping we could go shopping."

"Of course I'll help you," Hermione replied. "We can head to Diagon Alley this morning."

Ushering Neville into the front room, Hermione sat her friend down before poking her head into the kitchen and telling Molly she would be going out. Molly almost dropped the teapot in surprise, and leaving the half made pot of tea she followed Hermione as she headed to the bedroom to get ready.

"Where are you going, Hermione?" Molly asked.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley with Neville," Hermione replied as she pulled on her boots. "We'll only be a few hours."

"If you wait until this afternoon, Ron could go with you," Molly suggested.

"Ron won't want to come shopping," Hermione laughed. "I'm sure Neville's not keen, but he needs something for Luna's birthday. All I have to do is help him pick something, and I'll probably be back before Ron returns."

"I suppose a shopping trip with Neville won't hurt," Molly muttered. While Neville wasn't one of the people Hermione had spent a lot of time with since leaving school, Molly trusted the boy. He was a part of the Order, and he was a good friend to Hermione, Harry and Ron.

"Of course it won't," Hermione said, smiling brightly at Molly. "You can even stay here and make more cakes. I love lemon drizzle cake, and I noticed you'd only made chocolate cake."

"One lemon drizzle cake coming up," Molly said brightly. "It'll be fresh for when you get back. Just remember to be careful."

Promising to be vigilant, Hermione chuckled to herself as Molly rushed back to the kitchen to get baking. Hermione knew Ron's family were just being protective because of the war and her condition, but just lately she'd felt a bit smothered by Molly. Luckily, she knew just how to handle the older witch.

"Come on Neville, let's get out of here," Hermione said, entering the front room and finding Neville waiting for her.

"Do you want to floo?" Neville asked.

"Let's walk," Hermione said. "The Leaky Cauldron's only a ten minute walk, and it looks fairly nice outside."

"It is," Neville said as Hermione grabbed her bag and jacket and they exited the flat. "It's a gorgeous day."

"I have to admit, it's nice to get some fresh air," Hermione remarked as they stepped out of the building. "I'm so pleased you visited Neville, I'm really looking forward to this morning."

Hermione linked her arm with Neville's and the pair set off towards The Leaky Cauldron. Hermione was so caught up in chatting with Neville that she failed to notice the shadowy figures following her and Neville. Her first indication that something was wrong was when Neville suddenly pulled her into a dark alley. However, she didn't have time to react before the one of the shadowy figures following them, darted into the alley behind them, wrapped her in his arms and spirited her away.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight.**

Standing in the shadows beside Hermione's building, Draco kept an eye on his map as Severus stood silently beside him. Severus had accompanied him to snatch Hermione so he could keep control of Neville. As well as placing Neville under the imperius curse, Severus had also connected them mentally, so he could guide Neville into delivering Hermione to them.

Severus had sent Neville to see Hermione and told him to get her out of the flat to head to Diagon Alley, but they'd decided not to interfere in which way the pair decided to travel. Draco knew the flat was only a ten minute walk from The Leaky Cauldron, but he was keeping an eye on the map just in case they decided to floo. If Neville and Hermione did floo to Diagon Alley, he and Severus would follow them and snatch Hermione from there.

"Any movement?" Severus asked.

"Hermione's still in the flat," Draco answered, not tearing his attention away from the map.

"And are you sure everything else is ready?" Severus checked. "You've remembered the portkey, haven't you?"

Because of Hermione's condition it had been decided that when Draco grabbed her, he would use a port key to transport them back to the manor. Instead of being set to activate at a certain time, Severus had altered the charm on the portkey and it would activate when Draco rubbed the stone in a ring he was wearing.

"Of course," Draco answered, flashing Severus the ring on his finger that was now a portkey.

"What's taking them so long?" Severus muttered. He was just hoping that nothing had gone majorly wrong and their plan had been discovered, or else it would be even harder to get to Hermione.

"They're here," Draco said, placing the map back into his pocket and nodding his head towards the front door of the building where Hermione and Neville had just emerged.

Keeping to the shadows, Draco and Severus silently stalked the two former Gryffindors. Almost as soon as the pair had turned the corner and left the street where Hermione lived, Severus activated his connection with Neville and ordered him to pull Hermione into the next alley he passed.

"It's time," Severus told Draco. "Be ready."

Draco nodded back, but his focus was on Hermione. The second Neville pulled her into an alleyway, Draco rushed forward. Entering the alley, he capitalised on Hermione's shock by wrapping his arms around her from behind. Rubbing the stone in the ring he was wearing, he kept a tight hold of Hermione as he whisked her off to the manor, leaving Severus to deal with Neville.

The instant Draco and Hermione landed in the manor, Hermione began to struggle in Draco's arms. Despite the fact he wanted nothing more than to hold his girlfriend, Draco quickly released her from his embrace. This would be bad enough without antagonising her further by holding onto her.

The second Hermione was released she spun around to face her kidnapper. "You," she hissed, her brown eyes flashing angrily as she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. "You're going to regret this."

Hermione reached into her pocket for her wand, but just as her fingers closed around the piece of wood, it went flying from her grasp.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but you can't have your wand right now."

Totally shocked to hear another voice, Hermione spun round again and gasped when she spotted Voldemort sitting in a chair, twirling her wand casually in his fingers. She recognised the dark wizard from the description Harry had given when he'd faced him at the end of fourth year. Voldemort was a tall, very pale wizard with short dark hair and strange red eyes. Beside him sat Lucius Malfoy, and on a second sofa sat Narcissa Malfoy and a woman Hermione didn't recognise. Hermione barely had a chance to digest what was going on when Voldemort handed her wand to Lucius as he elegantly rose to his feet.

"You can have it back when Lucius makes a few adjustments," Voldemort told her. "Knowing you, you'll not think twice about hexing any of us, and we don't want that."

"Speak for yourself," Hermione muttered. She refused to let Voldemort, or anyone else see how terrified she was at being snatched. "I want nothing more than to hex the lot of you. And just for the record, you don't know me. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Yes, I do," Voldemort replied with a knowing chuckle.

A loud crack from outside the room, halted the conversation and Hermione turned her head as the doors to the room opened. To Hermione's horror, Severus Snape entered the room. Even though Harry and Ron had never truly trusted Snape, she had. Hermione believed he was a good man, and up until today she would have trusted him with her life. But it would appear she was wrong, it was looking very much like he'd betrayed her and had been a part of her abduction.

"I take it everything is well," Voldemort said to Severus.

"It is," Severus replied with a nod. "I've removed the imperius curse on Longbottom. He's knocked out in the alley where we snatched Hermione. When the Order find him, it will appear as though they were set upon and Hermione was kidnapped."

"What do you mean, it will appear as though I've been kidnapped?" Hermione questioned with an indignant snort. "I have bloody well been kidnapped."

"Things aren't quite as they appear, Hermione," Voldemort said gently. "You are not our prisoner."

"So I can leave then?" Hermione asked. Luckily her anger was kicking in and it was doing a good job of masking the fear she felt.

"No, you can't leave the manor," Voldemort answered.

As much as Voldemort would have loved to have Hermione at home with him and Adele, it had been decided that she was better off at the manor. Dumbledore already knew about the manor, whereas he didn't know where Voldemort resided and having Hermione at home might just lead Dumbledore to him. At least this way, she was with Draco, and Voldemort suspected that he had more chance of connecting to her than anyone else.

"See, I'm a prisoner," Hermione retorted. "I'm being kept against my will, that's the very definition of a prisoner."

"I'll admit it looks bad, but you don't know the truth," Voldemort said. "Take a seat, and we'll explain everything."

"I don't want to take a seat," Hermione snapped.

Standing in the middle of the room, her eyes darted around the place as she tried to figure out what was going on. She'd initially thought she'd been the victim of a straightforward kidnapping, but that didn't seem to be the case. Apart from taking her wand, no-one had done anything to restrain her and they were in what looked to be a living room. Hermione was guessing the Malfoys had a dungeon for prisoners, and so far no move was being made to lock her up.

"Hermione, sit down and listen," Severus said gently, coming up beside Hermione and placing a calming hand on her arm.

"Don't you talk to me," She hissed, yanking her arm out of Severus's grasp. "I trusted you. I thought you were on our side."

"We are on the same side Hermione, you just don't remember," Severus replied.

"We might get further if we knew what exactly had happened to Hermione," Narcissa suggested.

"I'll need some samples to run tests," Lucius said.

"I'm not giving you lot anything," Hermione said, taking a step back away from the gathered group of dark wizards and witches. "I don't know what you want with me, but I'm not going to give you want you want."

From the other side of the room, the witch Hermione didn't recognise got to her feet. Hermione cautiously watched as the witch approached her. There was something about the witch that put Hermione at ease, but she wasn't going to trust her. Even though she didn't seem evil, she was ensconced with the dark, therefore she couldn't be trusted.

"Hermione sweetheart, I know this is hard, but you have to listen to us," Adele said gently. "The Order have done something to you and tampered with your memories. You're now who you think you are. You're not a muggleborn, you're my daughter."

"You're not my mother," Hermione replied. "My mother is in Australia."

"The parents you think you know are nothing more than muggles under a spell," Adele explained. "I'm your mother."

"And who do you reckon my father is?" Hermione asked, her tone showing just how ridiculous she thought the entire thing was.

"That would be me," Voldemort said.

Hermione stared at Voldemort for a minute, before bursting into laughter. She still didn't know what was going on, but it would appear the dark had lost the plot. They couldn't honestly expect her to believe that she was the daughter of The Dark Lord. It was just too absurd to be true.

"You lot are crazy," Hermione spat.

"No, we're not," Voldemort said. "You're my daughter, and you've spent the last seven years working against the Order. Everything was fine, until just recently. You left school, and just dropped off the radar. Dumbledore has clearly gotten to you. Give us some time and we'll get to the bottom of what's happened to you."

"Nothing's happened to me," Hermione shouted, not at all impressed with the mind games Voldemort was playing with her.

"It has," Draco said, speaking up for the first time. "Before we left school, we were together. You loved me, and now you're acting as though we never happened."

"You're lying," Hermione spat, focusing her anger on the blond wizard. "I love Ron. I hate you."

"Your romance with Weasley was an act," Draco said, trying not to be too hurt by Hermione's cruel words. "We've been together for years. We were happy together, we love each other."

"Stop it," Hermione cried. "I don't love you. None of this is true. You're all liars. I want nothing to do with this sick plan of yours. You won't turn me against the Order. Lock me up and do what you want with me, but I won't break. I'm not buying into your twisted games."

"No-one will be locking you up," Voldemort said. "You've got free reign in the manor. Lucius has ensured that you can't leave via any method, so you'll be safe. If you want to stay in your room for the time being, that's fine. But I promise you, we will find out just what the Order have done to you."

"We also need to call a healer," Narcissa said. "We need to find out the truth about the baby."

"What truth?" Hermione asked, her hands immediately falling to her stomach. "You're not touching my baby."

"We need to know who the father is," Draco said quietly. "I need to know if Weasley's had the nerve to force himself on you."

"Ron has never forced me," Hermione retorted. "I'm carrying his baby, and I couldn't be happier. Ron is the father of my child, not you. I would never sleep with a bastard like you. And I would certainly never want your demon offspring."

Draco's grey eyes flashed furiously, before he turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. After a moment's silence, Narcissa got up and followed after her son.

"Lucius, do what you need to and find out what's happened to my daughter," Voldemort ordered. "I want her back to normal."

Lucius nodded as he rose to his feet. Hermione tried to back off when he approached her, but he pulled out his wand and froze her in place. Terror crept over Hermione as Lucius came to a stop in front of her. Preparing herself for the worst, she got a shock when all he did was cast a few spells, and take samples of her blood and hair.

"It'll take a few days, but I should be able to figure out what they've done to her," Lucius told The Dark Lord.

"Thank you Lucius," Voldemort said, nodding at his old friend. "I'm sure this has all been rather a shock for you, Hermione. We'll leave you to get adjusted, but we will be back. We're your family and we won't rest until we have our daughter back."

The sincerity in Voldemort's voice almost had Hermione believing him, but she caught herself before she fell into his trap. She had to remember that everyone was lying to her, no matter how persuasive they appeared to be. She still didn't know what they were trying to achieve by brainwashing her with these lies, but she wasn't going to fall for it. She would escape, and she would get back to the Order.

"Here's your wand," Lucius said, surprising Hermione by holding her wand out to her. "You won't be able to hurt any of us with the wand, and you won't be able to leave the manor. But other than that, consider the place your home. You can go where you want and do what you want."

Hermione didn't respond as she took the wand from Lucius. The second she had the wand in her grasp, she pointed it at Voldemort and tried to shoot off a stunning curse. Hermione felt the spell flow through her wand, but at the last minute nothing happened. Instinctively she knew it wasn't worth trying anything again, Lucius meant what he'd said. He'd fixed her wand so it was practically useless.

"Narcissa will show you to your room," Voldemort said, ignoring the fact that Hermione had tried to stun him as Narcissa re-entered the room.

"How's Draco?" Lucius asked his wife.

"He'll be fine," Narcissa replied before turning her attention to Hermione. "Come on Hermione, let's go and get you settled."

Knowing she wasn't going to achieve anything by arguing, Hermione followed Narcissa out of the room. Without paying any real attention to her surroundings, Hermione trailed after Narcissa as the older witch led her upstairs and into a large, beautifully decorated bedroom.

"Your mother brought some stuff from home, and we bought you a few new bits and pieces," Narcissa explained. "Draco's room is just along the hall if you need anything."

"I don't need anything from him," Hermione snapped. "I don't need anything from any of you apart from my freedom."

"I know this seems harsh, but we've only got your best interests at heart," Narcissa replied gently. "You'll see how much we all love you. We just want you back to normal. And one day, when this is over, you'll thank us for saving you from the Order."

Hermione snorted in response, knowing she would never thank Narcissa or anyone else in this house for anything. She'd just been kidnapped and torn away from the father of her unborn child, and nothing would make that right. She would never forgive the dark for what they'd done, and she would see to it personally that every single person involved in her kidnapping would pay for their actions.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine.**

Ron and Harry had spent their entire morning running over ideas for possible Horcruxes. Since Ron was his best friend, Harry had persuaded Dumbledore to allow him on the secret to defeating Voldemort. Dumbledore was more than happy to have Ron aboard, as it meant he could leave the majority of the work to the young wizards, while he dealt with other stuff.

"I guess I better be getting back," Ron said with a sigh as he checked his watch and found it was early afternoon.

"You don't sound too thrilled about it," Harry noted. For the last week or so, Ron had been decidedly more subdued than normal.

"I'm just finding all this pretence with Hermione is hard," Ron admitted.

"I thought you were managing fine," Harry said with a frown. He'd expected Ron to struggle being with Hermione, knowing that she'd been involved with Malfoy, but Ron had seemed to embrace their relationship and for a while they seemed genuinely happy together.

"I was," Ron replied. "Until Hermione discovered she was pregnant. All of a sudden, pretending is just too hard."

"Maybe it'll get better once you know who the father of the baby is," Harry suggested hopefully.

"If it's mine, things will be great. But if it's Malfoy's, I don't think I can keep up the pretence," Ron confessed in a quiet voice. "I'm pretty good at shutting out the past and trying not think that Hermione has slept with that bastard, but I can't do that if she's carrying his child."

"But it's not as if you'll have to raise the baby," Harry pointed out. He was well aware of Dumbledore's plan to have the baby adopted if it turned out to be Malfoy's.

"No, but I'll have to pretend to be excited for the next six months," Ron argued. "Then I'll have to pretend to grieve for the baby, and deal with a broken hearted Hermione. I can't do that, Harry. I'm struggling to get through each day at the minute, and if the baby is Malfoy's, it's the final straw."

"When do you find out about the baby?" Harry asked, wondering if they could alter their plans if the baby was Malfoy's.

"Madam Pomfrey is visiting next week. She should be able to do all the extra tests then."

"Try not to worry until next week," Harry said. "And if the worst should happen, we'll talk to Dumbledore. I'm sure we can come up with an alternative plan to deal with the situation."

"Let's hope so," Ron sighed as he reluctantly got to his feet. "I don't suppose you want to come back to the flat with me, do you? Chances are Hermione will be talking babies, and I could do with some moral support."

"Providing you're going to feed me, I'll head back to yours," Harry said as he grabbed his jacket.

"Mum was visiting this morning, if we're lucky she'll have whipped something up," Ron replied.

Hoping for something nice to eat, the two wizards apparated to the flat Ron shared with Hermione. With all the security charms surrounding both the building, and the flat itself, it was impossible to apparate directly into the building, so they arrived in the alley next to the building. Slipping out of the alley, they headed into the building and took the lift up to the floor where Ron and Hermione lived. Entering the flat, they were greeted by the most delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

"I smell chocolate cake," Ron grinned as the pair hung up their jackets.

Making their way into the kitchen, they found Molly decorating a lemon drizzle cake. On the kitchen table was a large chocolate fudge cake, and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Molly had also made a start on lunch, and she had a large pot of stew bubbling on the hob.

"Hey Mum," Ron greeted as they entered the kitchen. "You've been busy this morning."

"I was trying to give Hermione some space," Molly replied, smiling widely at both Harry and Ron. "Plus, I know how much you like chocolate cake."

"It's my favourite," Ron said, eyeing up the cake. He would be more than happy to just have a large piece of cake, but he knew his mother wouldn't let him cut into the cake until he'd eaten something savoury.

"The stew's nearly done," Molly said, noticing where Ron's attention was. "After you've had some stew, you can eat the cake and biscuits."

"The stew looks lovely, Molly," Harry said, his mouth watering at the smell of the beef stew. He'd smelt the stew as soon as he'd entered the flat, and wondered how on earth Ron had bypassed the smell of the stew and smelt the chocolate cake.

"I guess I'll leave you two to eat," Molly said as she pulled off her apron.

"Two?" Ron frowned. "Where's Hermione?"

"She went out with Neville, he needed her help buying a present for Luna," Molly answered. "She should be back shortly." As she spoke, Molly glanced up at the clock and frowned when she realised just how long Hermione had been gone.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked warily.

"I didn't realise it was so late. Hermione said she'd be back by lunchtime," Molly said quietly. "But maybe they just lost track of time," she added brightly. "You know how useless boys are at buying presents."

Harry and Ron turned to look at each other, neither of them quite buying Molly's very reasonable excuses as to why Hermione could be running late. There was something that just felt wrong about the entire thing. Their instincts told them that something had happened, and they needed to find Hermione quickly.

"Where were Neville and Hermione going?" Harry asked.

"Just to Diagon Alley," Molly answered.

"We should go and see if we can find them," Ron said to Harry.

"I'm sure Hermione is perfectly fine," Molly said, not sounding too convincing.

"We just want to be sure," Harry said. "Did they travel by floo?"

"They walked," Molly said. "Hermione wanted the fresh air."

"What do you think?" Harry turned to Ron. "Do we walk, or floo and start our search from Diagon Alley."

"It's a ten minute walk, let's walk it."

Leaving a nervous and worried Molly to wait for them at the flat, Harry and Ron set off in search of Hermione. Leaving the building, they took extra care to take a good look at their surroundings as they headed towards The Leaky Cauldron. All too soon, their fears that something was wrong were realised as Ron glanced into an alley and spotted Neville's prone body, lying sprawled on the floor.

"Shit," Harry swore as the two friends rushed to Neville's side.

"Hermione," Ron called, looking for any sign of the brunette witch in the alleyway.

While Ron searched for signs of Hermione, Harry checked Neville over. Luckily he quickly found a pulse and a re-enervating spell got Neville stirring again. Slowly Neville blinked open his eyes and with a groan, Harry helped him sit up.

"What happened?" Neville asked groggily.

"That's what we were going to ask you," Ron snapped. "Where's Hermione?"

Despite the pain in his head, Neville frantically whipped his head around trying to find his friend. Finding no sign of Hermione, Neville dropped his head into his hands.

"Let's get back to the flat," Harry said. "We need to check Neville out and try to work out what happened."

Harry and Ron helped Neville to his feet, and together the threesome made their way back to Ron's flat. The second they entered, Molly jumped into action, settling Neville on the sofa as she checked he was okay.

"What happened Neville?" Ron asked, pacing the floor. "Where's Hermione?"

"I'm not sure what happened," Neville said softly as he tried to deal with the pounding in his head. "Hermione and I were heading to Diagon Alley and we were pounced upon. We were taken by surprise, and I have no idea what happened after I'd been hit on the head. It all happened so quick, I didn't even have time to get my wand out."

"It's not your fault Neville," Harry said reassuringly. He didn't want his friend blaming himself for what had happened to Hermione, when the blame lay with whoever had snatched her.

"We need to get in touch with Dumbledore," Ron declared. "We need to get Hermione back."

Harry quickly headed off to get Dumbledore, while Ron decided to have another look outside for clues to who could have kidnapped Hermione. Meanwhile, Molly patched Neville up and gave him a pain relief potion. By the time Ron returned to the flat and Harry arrived with Dumbledore, Neville had a bandage around his head and was sipping on a cup of tea Molly had made for him.

"Can you remember anything more about who attacked you and Hermione?" Dumbledore asked Neville.

"No," Neville replied. "They came from behind and dragged us into the alley. I was knocked out before I could react. I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Dumbledore said. "But do you mind if I take a look at the memories of this morning. Maybe there's something there that you've forgotten."

"Feel free," Neville replied. "Anything to help find Hermione. She's my friend, and I feel bad that she's been taken while she was with me."

While Harry and Ron reassured Neville had nothing to feel guilty about, Dumbledore prepared to enter Neville's mind. When he did so, he found the memories were just as Neville had explained. Neville and Hermione were dragged into the alley from behind, and they had no chance to react before Neville was hit over the head. When Dumbledore had finished with Neville's memories, he ran a few more subtle tests on the young wizard, just to be sure everything was as it seemed.

"Thank you Neville," Dumbledore said, smiling at the former Gryffindor. "Why don't you go home and rest? We'll keep you informed about Hermione."

With a bit of persuading, Neville headed off home. The second Neville was out of the flat, Harry and Ron turned to Dumbledore and demanded to know what was going to happen next. Molly had also picked up on the extra spells Dumbledore had run on Neville and wanted to know what was happening.

"I was checking Neville wasn't under the Imperius curse," Dumbledore said. "I can confidently say he's not at the minute, but as you all know it's impossible to say he hasn't been at some earlier moment in time. He could very well have been under the curse this morning, and then whoever took Hermione removed it and altered his memories."

"How do we prove that?" Harry questioned.

"We can't," Dumbledore replied. "It's idle speculation. For all we know, Neville wasn't under any spell and it was just an ambush timed to perfection."

"So what do we do, now?" Ron asked. "How do we get Hermione back?"

"Before she left school, I placed a tracking charm on Miss Granger," Dumbledore explained. "We can locate her, but if she's where I think she'll be, it's going to be hard to get her back."

"Where do you think she is?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy Manor."

"Shit," Ron cursed. After Hogwarts, Malfoy Manor was the most heavily warded building in Britain, and it would be almost impossible to rescue her from there.

"How sure are we that Hermione was genuinely snatched?" Molly questioned cautiously. "Could it be possible that the potion has worn off and Hermione knows who she truly is?"

"The potion doesn't wear off," Dumbledore answered. "The effects are permanent."

"We all knew the dark were going to try something," Harry said wearily. "They've been quiet for too long, and we all knew they weren't going to just sit back while we had Hermione."

"They've clearly been watching her," Ron deduced. "They've been watching for the perfect time to snatch her."

"So it would seem," Dumbledore said, nodding in agreement.

"Do you think they can persuade Hermione that's she's on their side?" Molly asked quietly. "Even if she doesn't have her memories, they all have theirs. If she's in their clutches, they could still turn her against us."

"I guess that all depends on how strong Hermione is," Dumbledore replied. "Hopefully she'll have enough faith in us that she refuses to believe them."

"Hermione's stubborn," Harry said, trying to sound confident. "She'll think they're just trying to turn her against us. She won't believe them."

"Let's hope not," Dumbledore said. "Of course, we're going to try and get her back. But we will have to be patient. This could take time."

"What about the baby?" Ron asked, dropping onto the sofa. Despite his doubts about the child, it might still be his, and he was terrified about what would happen if Hermione gave birth to his child while at Malfoy Manor.

"We don't know who the baby's father is yet," Molly added. "There's a good chance it's Ron's baby. What will happen if she gives birth to Ron's baby when she's with them?"

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Dumbledore said. "First, let's find out where Hermione is. Then we can talk about how to get her back. We have to have faith. Hermione doesn't have her memories, so hopefully they won't be able to turn her against us."

Taking a brief break from their conversation, Dumbledore activated the tracking spell on Hermione. As suspected, Hermione was located at Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire. Sharing a resigned look, they decided it was time to bring in the rest of the Order. Obviously, no-one that didn't already know wouldn't discover the truth about Hermione, but they would have to tell them that Hermione had been kidnapped. Maybe with all the Order on board, they could get Hermione back before the dark corrupted her and convinced her that they were the ones telling the truth.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten.**

After Narcissa had left her alone, Hermione had taken a look around the bedroom she would be occupying. The room was a large room decorated in various shades of purple, and in other circumstances Hermione would have rather liked it. However, she was a prisoner and all she wanted was to be back at home with Ron and her friends.

The large wardrobe and several drawers contained clothes, all in her size. Half of the stuff was clearly brand new and had never been worn, but there was also a good portion of the clothing that had been worn before. Hermione just refused to believe that she'd been the one to wear it. In the adjoining bathroom, she found all the toiletries she would need. The shampoo was the same brand she used, but she was putting that down to the dark doing their homework. They were really going all out to try and convince her that she was Voldemort's daughter.

Inspecting the bookshelf, Hermione found almost everything on the shelves was stuff she'd either read, or would be interested in reading. The only section she wasn't going to consider looking at was several books on the dark arts. She wasn't going to turn to the dark, no matter what her captors did to her. As well as the books, Hermione found several pictures dotted around the room. The pictures all showed her at various stages of her life, and they nearly all included someone involved in her kidnapping. The younger pictures often showed her with the witch claiming to be her mother, while the older pictures showed her with Voldemort. She even found a picture of herself with Malfoy, looking entirely too cosy for her liking.

"They're all fake," Hermione muttered to herself as she gathered up all the pictures.

Looking around the room, for a suitable place to hide the pictures she spotted that the seat in front of the window was a chest. Opening up the chest, she threw the pictures into the darkness and slammed the lid closed. It was going to take more than some doctored pictures to break her. She was much stronger than the dark had given her credit for, and she had no intention of caving in and giving them what they wanted.

"Don't worry baby, well get out of here," Hermione whispered, gently rubbing her stomach. Although how she was going to achieve that, she had no idea.

Settling down beside the window, Hermione spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to think of a way out of her predicament. She was still no further forward when a house elf popped into her room and nervously cleared its throat.

"Miss Hermione, it's dinner time," The elf said. "Will you be joining the family for dinner?"

"No, I will not," Hermione replied.

"I'll bring dinner to you," The elf responded and dissapparated before Hermione had a chance to refuse.

Five minutes later the elf returned with a delicious looking plate of roast beef, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings. Hermione was tempted to be stubborn and refuse the food, but she hadn't eaten since breakfast and she had the baby to think about. Starving herself wasn't going to do her or the baby any good. Thanking the elf, Hermione settled down at the desk to eat her dinner.

After the elf had returned and taken away her plate, Hermione decided she might as well get ready for bed and try to get some sleep. After using the bathroom, she located a pair of new pyjamas and changed into them. Just as she was untying her hair for the night, she heard footsteps outside the bedroom. Grabbing her wand, Hermione listened as the footsteps halted outside the door. For several minutes she heard nothing, then all of the sudden the footsteps continued on past her door and minutes later she heard a door slamming further along the corridor.

Hermione waited for another minute before hesitantly crossing the room and opening her door. Peering out into the hallway, she saw nothing had been left outside her door, and there was no sign of anyone nearby. Remembering that Narcissa had said Malfoy's room was just down the hall, Hermione pulled her head back inside the room and locked the door when she shut it. It had clearly been Malfoy hovering around outside the room, and the last thing she wanted was to deal with him. It was bad enough the dark were trying to convince her that she was Voldemort's daughter, but she didn't want to hear any lies about how she'd been in love with the blond git who'd tormented her since she began school.

Refusing to dwell on the lies the dark were trying to get her to believe, Hermione crawled into the large double bed. Snuggling down, she wrapped the covers around herself and she drifted off to sleep, thoughts of being saved and reunited with her friends floating around her head.

* * *

"I don't need examining," Hermione hissed, glaring daggers at Narcissa, Adele and the healer they'd brought into her room.

Her first morning at Malfoy Manor had been spent in her room, with a house elf bringing her some breakfast, but shortly after she'd finished lunch the three women had arrived at her room. Narcissa had introduced the third woman as a private healer, and had told Hermione that they were going to check the baby.

"We need to check the baby is okay," Adele said soothingly. "And we need to know when it was conceived."

"The baby is not Malfoy's," Hermione insisted. "It doesn't matter when the baby was conceived, it's still Ron's child."

"I know that's what you believe, but you'll see the truth eventually," Narcissa sighed.

"Can you tell the paternity of the baby before it's born?" Hermione asked the healer. She didn't trust a private healer to run the tests and give truthful results, but if they could determine who the father was before the baby was born they might be able to get an impartial healer to run the tests.

"You can, but it can be dangerous for the baby," The healer answered. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"I'm not doing anything that might endanger my baby," Hermione answered.

"In that case, please let the healer look at you," Adele pleaded.

Hermione suspected that if she didn't give in she would be forced to undergo the examination, so she conceded and gave the healer permission to check her over. The healer examined Hermione for several minutes and ran a few tests on both her and the baby, before giving them both a clean bill of health. She then dropped the bombshell that the baby had been conceived the last night at Hogwarts. Narcissa and Adele were clearly thrilled by the news, but it changed nothing for Hermione. It just meant that her and Ron had been together their last night at school.

"I think Lucius and Severus might have some answers for us," Adele said, once the healer was finished and Narcissa was showing her out. "Will you please come downstairs and join us."

"Why would I want to join you as you just try to manipulate me?" Hermione questioned.

"Don't you want to know the truth?" Adele asked. "There has to be some part of you that senses how wrong things are. Somewhere deep inside you have doubts about what you know. There is something, even if you won't admit it, that doesn't quite feel right. I know you Hermione, on some level you know we're telling the truth."

Much to her chagrin, Hermione found herself identifying with what Adele was saying. She had to admit, there were things that didn't quite make sense, but even so that didn't mean the dark were telling the truth. Just because she had worries about why she didn't have the address of her parents in Australia, it didn't mean it was because they didn't exist. Even her niggling doubts could be explained away, and not by the dark claiming to be her family.

"Your father wants you there," Adele continued. "If you don't come down with us, he'll come and get you."

"He's not my father," Hermione hissed. "Stop calling him that."

"Whether you like it or not, we're you're parents," Adele said gently. "But please think about coming downstairs willingly. It will be easier for everyone."

"Fine," Hermione huffed as she got to her feet. "I'll come down, but I won't believe anything you lot say. I'm not falling for all these lies you're feeding me."

Adele nodded, and didn't bother arguing further. They all knew it was going to be a long road getting Hermione back, and they had to take it a step at a time. She wasn't going to believe them straight away, first they had to gain her trust and reassure her that they cared about her.

Hermione reluctantly followed Adele downstairs, and at the bottom of the stairs they joined up with Narcissa, who'd shown the healer out. Narcissa smiled warmly at Hermione, but she didn't comment on her presence as she led the way into the library. Hermione was fascinated by the towering bookshelves, but she didn't get a chance to have a good look as Narcissa led the way over a corner of the library that held a desk and several seats. Spread out over the desk were several books and scraps of parchment, which Lucius and Severus were studying.

"Hermione, it's nice to see you up and around," Severus said, offering the young girl a friendly smile.

Ignoring her former Professor, Hermione stalked over to the chair the furthest away and slumped down in it. She'd barely gotten herself settled when Voldemort strolled into the library alongside Draco. They both smiled slightly at the sight of Hermione, but neither of them spoke as everyone else sat down.

"Before we begin, how did the healer's visit go?" Draco asked eagerly.

"Hermione and the baby are both doing great," Narcissa replied. "And more importantly the baby was conceived the last night you were at Hogwarts."

"Which means nothing," Hermione muttered as Draco's face broke into a huge grin. She found it rather disconcerting that the sight of a smiling Draco produced a warm feeling inside of her, not that she was going to admit that to anyone.

"At least that's some good news," Voldemort replied, choosing not to respond to Hermione's grumblings. He doubted any good would come of pushing things with Hermione, no matter how much he wanted to drum it into her that she was his daughter. "Lucius, do you have anything useful?"

"I do," Lucius answered. "Although I should first say that I found traces of a tracking spell on Hermione."

"I placed a one on her so we could monitor her movements," Draco said.

"This one is different from the one you used," Lucius told his son. "This one is more advanced, and was cast several weeks ago. I'm fairly sure Dumbledore was the one to cast it on her."

"So the Order can locate Hermione," Narcissa said. "They know she's here."

"And they can rescue me," Hermione added with a smug smirk.

"They won't get into the manor, sweetheart," Lucius chuckled. "Even Dumbledore can't breach our wards. You're perfectly safe here."

"That's a matter of opinion," Hermione shot back. She knew it would be hard for the Order to rescue her, but at least she now knew they had a way of finding her. And if they knew where she was, eventually they'd find a way to free her.

"Are you going to remove the spell?" Adele asked.

"It's pointless," Voldemort said, answering before Lucius even opened his mouth. "The Order will now know where Hermione is, although I'm sure they suspected as much even without the tracking spell. Removing it isn't going to be necessary unless we move Hermione, which we aren't going to do. Besides, it might come in useful in the future. Hermione's safe, so I say we leave the spell intact."

"I also know what exactly the Order did to Hermione," Lucius said. "I found traces of a potion in her system. I didn't recognise the potion, so Severus helped me out."

"It's a very old potion that allows memories to be altered," Severus explained as all eyes turned to him. "The potion takes a few weeks to brew, and it has to be done perfectly. When administered, it alters the memories to become whatever the person brewing the potion wants."

"So Hermione still has her memories, they've just been altered?" Draco checked.

"Yes," Severus replied. "In her case I think Dumbledore has used the lies she told to integrate herself with the Order as a frame work. He replaced her memories of her parents with the muggles that we were using to pose as them when necessary. I think he did the same with Draco, turning Hermione's memories of him into memories of Weasley."

"Bastard," Draco hissed angrily. He already wanted to kill Weasley with as much pain as possible, but Dumbledore was the ringleader of this plan and as such he also deserved a painful death.

"Can you brew the antidote?" Adele questioned.

"There is no antidote," Lucius answered quietly. "The effects of the potion are permanent."

"There's no known antidote," Severus corrected. "The potion is centuries old, and hasn't been used in decades. No-one's really had a reason to find an antidote, but we do. I'm confident that in time I can make an antidote."

"How long will that take?" Narcissa asked.

"It's hard to say. It could be years," Severus admitted.

"So we're stuck," Draco spat in disgust. "Dumbledore has wrecked our lives and there's nothing we can do about it. Hermione is stuck without her true memories, and in a few months she's going to be giving birth to my son."

"Firstly, I have my true memories," Hermione snarled, jumping to her feet and glaring menacingly at Draco. "Dumbledore would never do what you lot are suggesting. And secondly, I'm having Ron's baby, not yours. And you certainly don't know it's a boy."

"First born Malfoys are always a boy," Draco retorted. "And you are carrying my child. I can even tell you in great detail how we conceived that baby."

"I won't believe you, any of you," Hermione hissed, before turning and fleeing from the room.

"Draco, leave her," Voldemort called as Draco got to his feet to go after his girlfriend.

"I need to talk to her," Draco insisted. "Maybe I can convince her I'm telling the truth. I know things about her, I would only know if I were being truthful."

"That's exactly why you need to approach this calmly," Voldemort said. "If Hermione's memories have just been altered, that means they're still there. We just have to convince her that our memories match up to some of hers, only hers contain different people. Forcing the issue when she's angry won't help matters."

"I guess not," Draco admitted with a sigh as he slumped back into his chair. He knew how stubborn Hermione was, and arguing with her when she was fired up was never a good idea.

"Severus, I want you to get started on brewing an antidote," Voldemort ordered.

"I'll help," Lucius offered. "We can brew it at the manor so Dumbledore won't discover what we're doing."

"I'll also be calling a Death Eater meeting in the coming days," Voldemort announced. "We're going to act as though Hermione is our prisoner, only we will know the truth. I also think it's time we upped the ante with the Order. Let's rattle them a bit."

"And what about Hermione?" Draco questioned. "How do we try and reach her?"

"Give her time," Voldemort advised. He wanted his daughter back this instant, but he was smart enough to know that wasn't going to happen, they needed to be patient. "When you approach her, do it calmly. But try and wait until she's feeling more settled. I know my daughter, and eventually her curiosity will win out and she'll start exploring the manor. That will be the perfect time to approach her."

Draco reluctantly agreed with Voldemort. It would be better to wait until Hermione was feeling more at ease in the manor, but that could still be another few weeks. Knowing his girlfriend she would stay in her room for as long as possible, but he would be patient. Eventually he'd get the chance to speak to Hermione, and when he did he was going to make sure he planted the seeds of doubt in her mind. He was going to make sure that she knew her memories of Weasley were false, they were really her memories of him.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven.**

Despite the fact his friends were in high spirits, Draco just couldn't seem to relax and enjoy himself. He'd invited his friends over for a poker night in an attempt to stop himself brooding about Hermione, but it wasn't working. So far, he was just as distracted as normal and to make matters worse he'd lost three hands in a row.

"Tonight is not your night, Draco," Blaise laughed as Draco lost a fourth hand in spectacular fashion. Normally Draco was an excellent poker player, and his friends considered themselves lucky if they managed to win even a few hands, but tonight the blond was definitely off his game.

"No, it's not," Draco agreed as he got to his feet. "Does anyone else want another drink?"

Heading over to the desk beside the wall, he poured himself and his friends another glass of firewhisky. They'd all brought a bottle of alcohol to the game, so five bottles of firewhisky sat on the desk. They were still on their first bottle, but Draco suspected by the end of the night they could quite possibly have consumed a couple of bottles between them.

"What's with you these days?" Theo asked as Draco handed the drinks round. "You've been out of it for the last few weeks."

"I'm fine," Draco replied. "I've just got a lot to handle, getting to grips with the business."

"Not to mention your Death Eater duties," Greg added.

"All of us have those," Theo pointed out.

In the last couple of weeks, all five of them had been pretty busy with Death Eater business. First of all Voldemort had called a meeting and announced they were holding Hermione prisoner, making sure to mention that Draco and his friends were responsible for her capture. There'd then been a series of attacks on the Order and their supporters. Draco and his friends had been involved in a big skirmish in Diagon Alley, and there'd also been attacks on Hogsmeade and the Ministry of Magic.

"Are the Order still watching the manor?" Blaise questioned.

Unsurprisingly, the Order had landed just outside of the manor within hours of Hermione been snatched. Between Draco, Lucius and Narcissa, they were able to keep an eye on the Order and make sure they didn't breach the wards. However, the Order seemed content to just watch, probably looking for signs that Hermione was okay. Draco had suggested to Voldemort that they go after the members of the Order watching the manor, but for the time being The Dark Lord was happy to wait and see what their next move was.

"Round the clock," Draco told his friend. "There's a constant presence in the woods behind the house."

"I still don't understand why The Dark Lord hasn't attacked," Vince said. "I mean, he knows they're out there."

"The Dark Lord wants to see if they're going to do anything but watch," Draco explained.

"Of course they're not going to do anything but watch," Theo scoffed. "What can they do? They can't break into the manor, it's impossible."

"I doubt The Dark Lord will sit back forever," Draco remarked. "Sooner or later, he'll make his move."

"I hope its sooner," Theo said. "I want more action. The attack on Diagon Alley was so thrilling."

"A full on battle would be even better," Blaise said. "We had restrictions at Diagon Alley since we just wanted to create havoc. I can't wait for a full on battle with the Order."

As his friends started discussing the possibilities of battling the Order, Draco excused himself to use the bathroom. On his way back to the living room that they were using in Draco's wing of the manor, he passed Hermione's bedroom door. It had been two weeks since Hermione arrived at the manor, and apart from the day when they'd discovered what the Order had done to her, she hadn't left her bedroom. Draco was getting increasingly tempted to knock on her door, but he doubted she would listen to him. Instead he stared longingly at the door for several minutes, before returning to his friends.

"Okay, let's get back to it," he declared as he retook his seat. "I swear, I'm not losing another galleon tonight."

True to his word, Draco didn't lose another hand for the next couple of hours. One by one his friends admitted defeat and the night came to a close. Vowing to have another boy's night soon, Draco saw his friends out before summoning an elf to tidy the room they'd been using. Leaving the elf to clean, Draco headed back to his bedroom, once again pausing for several minutes outside of Hermione's room before passing it without trying to initiate contact.

Back in his own room, Draco made his way to the window and studied the woods behind the house. From this distance it was too far away to see anything, but a check of the wards revealed there was a presence very close to them. So far the Order hadn't attempted to break through the wards, but everyone thought it was only a matter of time before they made a move. Voldemort was convinced that Dumbledore was studying the wards, looking for a chink so they could break through. However, the Malfoys were all confident their wards couldn't be breached.

Turning away from the window, Draco pulled off his shirt and walked over to his wardrobe. Pulling out a black jumper, he slipped it on and pulled on a pair of black running shoes. Turning to the mirror, he charmed his hair darker and apparated to the edge of the manor gardens. Silencing his footsteps, Draco slipped past the wards of the house and into the woods that enclosed the back of the property.

Knowing exactly where he was going, Draco slipped soundlessly through the dark woods. While the Order prowled the entire border of Malfoy Manor, they mainly remained in the woods as it offered them cover. And it was in the woods that they'd set up camp, meaning someone was outside the manor twenty four hours a day. After the Order had been in the woods a few days, Voldemort had sent Draco to try and find out if they had a permanent base just beyond the manor's boundaries. Draco had found the camp easily, and he often crept about undetected, eavesdropping on whichever members of the Order were around at the time. Although, so far he hadn't heard anything of any value, mainly whoever was around just chatted about things he already knew about.

Reaching the edge of the camp, Draco spotted a pair sitting beside a small campfire. He quickly identified the couple as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Draco had seen both men at the campsite before, but never together. Hoping they might be more interesting as a pair, Draco quietly manoeuvred his way through the trees until he was practically behind the pair.

"This is useless," Sirius muttered, just loud enough for Draco to hear. "We might know she's in there, but we're never going to get in."

"We have to at least try," Remus replied with a shrug.

"I don't see the point personally," Sirius snorted. "She can't tell them anything new. Since we slipped her that potion she's only attended a few meetings, and even then we all watched what we were saying. She knows nothing, Remus."

"I know, but she has other knowledge she could pass on," Remus argued.

"Everything else she knew, she knew before her memories were taken. Don't forget she was sharing dorms with Draco, she'll have told him everything," Sirius pointed out. "Taking her back is only going to infuriate Voldemort more. We've lost people with these recent attacks, any more and he could wipe out a good portion of the Order."

"And what about the baby?" Remus questioned. "What if that child she's carrying is Ron's? Besides, Hermione is no longer the witch they remember. Nothing will bring back her memories of her family. She's one of us now."

"She's a danger, that's what she is," Sirius grumbled. "Dumbledore should have locked her up somewhere."

Smirking to himself, Draco quietly backed away from the still chattering pair and made his way back towards the manor gardens. There was clearly a bit of dissent amongst the Order, and they could possibly use it to their advantage. Obviously not all the Order thought they should be trying to get Hermione back. Arriving back inside the manor's boundaries, Draco apparated back to his room.

Not quite ready to retire for the night, Draco yanked off his shoes and threw them into his wardrobe. Pocketing his wand, he exited his room and quietly wandered down the corridor. Since it was nearly midnight he didn't want to disturb Hermione, so he was extra quiet as he passed her room. Deciding he would read for a while, Draco made his way to the small library he kept in his wing of the house. It wasn't anywhere near as grand as the main library, bit it held a decent selection of books.

Pushing open the library doors, Draco strode straight over to the shelf where he kept his favourite books. It wasn't until he'd grabbed a book and turned towards the fire that he realised he wasn't alone. Hermione sat curled up asleep in one of the chairs. His girlfriend had clearly been exploring and had settled down to read, before falling asleep in front of the fire.

For several minutes, Draco just stood and watched Hermione. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up and carry her to his room, but he knew that wasn't an option. Chances were when she woke up, she would yell at him before running off. Unable to help himself, Draco tiptoed forward and crouched down beside Hermione.

"I miss you so much," he whispered, gently running his finger down her cheek.

In her sleep, Hermione smiled but she didn't wake up. Gently brushing his lips against her forehead, Draco stood up and settled himself in the seat opposite his girlfriend. He didn't want to wake Hermione, but he also didn't want to leave her alone. He would sit with her until she either woke up, or he decided that she needed to be in a proper bed.

Draco sat reading for nearly an hour before Hermione started to stir. Placing his book to one side, Draco waited for Hermione to wake properly and realise where she was. It didn't take Hermione very long at all to wake up properly and bolt upright, glaring at Draco.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I came for a book and found you asleep," Draco answered.

"So you thought you'd sit and watch me?" Hermione questioned.

"I was reading, not watching you," Draco corrected. "Although I will admit to watching you sleep for a little bit. You don't hate me when you're asleep, and it reminds me of when you were still yourself."

"Don't start this again," Hermione hissed. "How many times do I have to tell you people that I'm not going to believe you?"

"You can keep telling us, but we know the truth," Draco replied. "And the truth is, this should all be so familiar to you."

"What should be familiar?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Us, sitting by the fire reading," Draco answered. "We spent a lot of time reading together. You would have your book, and I would have mine. Sometimes you'd even fall asleep beside me when it got late."

Hermione closed her eyes as Draco's words produced such vivid images in her head. He was clearly describing some of her memories, only he was replacing Ron with himself. She had those exact memories of reading with Ron. Only she knew the memories with Ron weren't quite right. Her recent experiences told her that Ron only reads magazines and comics, and he would never sit and read by the fire with her for hours on end.

"You can remember that, can't you," Draco said quietly. "Only it's Weasley in your memories. You're not stupid Hermione, you know he's out of place in those memories. Can you honestly see Weasley sitting reading with you for hours?"

"He did," Hermione whispered. "I can remember it."

"You can remember it because it happened," Draco said as he stood up. "Just think about it Hermione, and you'll see that he doesn't fit. Good night, Hermione."

Taking one final look at his girlfriend, Draco picked up his book and headed back to his bedroom. He really wanted to stay with Hermione, but for the first time he seemed to have made a breakthrough and he didn't want to ruin that. If he'd stayed, Hermione might have gotten herself angry and rushed off, but hopefully by leaving he'd left her with something to think about. Maybe she would think about her memories of Weasley and see that her memories didn't match the man she'd been living with since leaving school. It was going to be a slow job, but hopefully they were starting to get through to Hermione.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve.**

After Lucius's explanation about what had supposedly happened to her, Hermione had refused to leave the bedroom she'd been given. For days she hadn't even thought about leaving the room, but boredom eventually began to set in. Stuck in the room she could do nothing, but maybe if she explored the place she could find a way out of her prison.

Hermione still hadn't wanted anyone to know she was exploring the manor, so she always waited until Draco was out. It hadn't taken her long to realise that she and Draco were the only people with rooms in this particular portion of the manor. It also hadn't taken her long to realise that Draco headed downstairs early on a morning and didn't appear again until early evening. More than likely he was working during the day, which gave her ample opportunity to explore.

When Hermione began to explore, she soon discovered that nearby there were enough rooms to make living in one part of the manor possible. No doubt she was in Draco's personal wing of the manor, meaning she wasn't likely to bump into anyone but Draco. Even so, Hermione was very careful and never ventured out of her room at a time when she thought she might be caught. She may have been given free run of the manor, but that didn't mean she wanted anyone to know she was starting to take advantage of her limited bit of freedom.

Hermione had gotten quite good at sneaking around when Draco was either out or in bed, so she was rather shocked when one night she'd been caught. She'd been convinced Draco was in his room for the night when she'd gone wandering to the library. She'd been researching the wards of the manor, hoping to break through them, but she'd fallen asleep beside the fire. When she'd woke up and found Draco watching her, she'd been shocked. But that was nothing compared to how she felt after their little chat. Draco's words had left her reeling, and for days she'd refused to deal with the doubts that were creeping into her head.

However, it had been two days since her conversation with Draco and Hermione knew she had to start facing reality. As much as she didn't want to admit it, a lot of what he'd said had made sense. Hiding from the facts wasn't getting her anywhere, she had to face her demons and accept that things might not be quite as they appeared.

In an attempt to clear her mind, Hermione had exited her bedroom and slowly crept down the stairs. Some fresh air was just what she needed, she doubted it was good for the baby or her to be holed up in her room all day. Hermione was relieved when she didn't run into anyone as she descended the stairs and found her way outside. The fresh air immediately had Hermione feeling much better. The occasional chill in the air let her know autumn was well and truly setting in, but it was still warm enough for her to enjoy a stroll in the gardens. Hermione spent a few moments taking in the beautiful gardens and stunning array of flowers, before settling down on a bench beside a large rose bush.

Even though she didn't want to, Hermione let herself think about what Draco had said a few days previously. Truthfully, she'd already noticed her relationship with Ron wasn't how she remembered it. Reading together was just one of the many ways in which her memories didn't match her experiences of the last few months living with Ron. It was now becoming increasingly clear that her memories weren't of Ron, they were of someone else.

Thinking about her memories, Hermione found the vast majority of them took place in the head dorms. The memories of Ron that took place elsewhere in the school, like the prefect's bathroom or the room of requirement, could easily be genuine, but she was slowly accepting that the memories in the head dorms weren't of Ron. It just didn't make any sense that she and Ron would be so intimate in the head dorms, not with Draco around.

Dozens of Hermione's memories involved curling up on the sofa in the common room, reading together. Not only would Ron not be comfortable just sitting reading, Draco wouldn't just stay out of the way if Ron was in the head dorms. Then there was the memories of using the common room for sex. Again, it made no sense that she and Ron would be using the common room when the Head Boy could just walk in at any minute. Hermione also had loads of memories of falling asleep next to Ron and waking up next to him the next morning. She could now see that Ron would never have stayed the night in the head dorms, it just wouldn't have happened without Draco kicking up a fuss. And in all of Hermione's memories, Draco never appeared complaining about Hermione and Ron being in the head dorms.

The longer Hermione sat thinking, the more convinced she became that she'd made a massive mistake in her final year at Hogwarts. She was becoming increasingly convinced that she'd had an ill-advised fling with Draco. She'd likely fallen for his charms, and ended up betraying Ron in the worst possible way. Unfortunately, that meant the baby she was carrying was most likely Draco's.

"Please no," Hermione whispered, tears falling from her eyes as she contemplated the possibility she was carrying a Malfoy.

With the realisation that she'd likely been involved with Draco back in school, Hermione had to wonder who had altered her memories. Had she come to her senses and realised what a mistake she'd made and tried to fix things? Or had someone else discovered what was going on and acted to save her relationship with Ron and the rest of the Order? Harry was the most likely possibility of someone finding out and trying to fix things, but she suspected she'd done this herself. She was beginning to think she'd finally come to her senses and tried to fix a horrid mistake.

There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that Draco had just been using her back in school. Whether he'd just wanted information from her, or whether he wanted her to join the dark, she wasn't sure. But she was sure that he didn't love her. There was no way he would love a muggleborn, and that was what she was. She didn't know why the dark felt the need to try and pretend she was someone she wasn't, but she certainly wasn't believing their lies about her parentage. No doubt it was more trickery to try to get her believe that she was with Draco.

"May I join you?" a quite voice asked, jolting Hermione from her thoughts.

Hermione looked up to find Adele standing in front of her. Despite herself, Hermione rather liked Adele. She just wished that she didn't keep insisting she was her mother. As long as she kept claiming to be her mother, Hermione was steering clear of the older witch.

"I was just about to head back indoors," Hermione said.

"Please, just stay for five minutes," Adele pleaded. "I just want to check you're okay."

"I'm as okay as I can be considering I'm a prisoner," Hermione retorted sharply as Adele settled herself beside her on the bench.

"You don't know how much I wish things could be different, Hermione," Adele sighed. "I blame myself for all this."

"Why?"

"Because I asked Lucius and Severus to pass you off as a muggleborn when it was time for you to start school," Adele replied. "I was so worried about the Order finding out about you, I did everything I could to prevent that. I thought making you attend school as a muggleborn would keep you under their radar. I never expected you to end up in Gryffindor and forced to befriend Potter and his ginger sidekick."

"I wasn't forced to befriend Harry and Ron," Hermione snapped. "They became my friends when they saved me from a troll. Our friendship is genuine."

"I should have put an end to this charade years ago," Adele said, carrying on as though Hermione hadn't spoken. "I hated the fact you were close to the Order, but your father insisted you were safe. I should have put my foot down and demanded you be pulled out."

"Just stop it!" Hermione screamed as she jumped to her feet. "You are not my mother, and Voldemort is not my father. Just stop with the lies. I don't know why you feel the need to tell such lies. This is all because of the baby, isn't it? You found out I was pregnant, and realised it must be Malfoy's child. So you snatched me and tried to get me to remember, but for some reason you've added all these extra lies about my parents. I will never believe you, so just stop it."

Turning on her heel, Hermione fled back towards the manor, never realising she'd told Adele much more than she'd intended. For the first time, she'd admitted out loud that the baby she was carrying was Draco's. She'd also admitted that she was starting to believe some of what she was being told, giving Adele hope she would soon start to believe everything.

* * *

Ron and Harry were both at The Burrow, sitting despairingly at the kitchen table while Molly bustled around making tea. For two weeks there'd been a constant presence at Malfoy Manor as the Order looked to find a weak spot in the wards surrounding the property, but so far they'd found nothing. They hadn't even seen Hermione, so they had no idea what state she was in. Considering who she was, they doubted she was being kept as a prisoner, but she also didn't seem to be roaming around the place.

"We're not getting her back, are we?" Ron muttered, more to himself than to Harry.

"Of course we are," Harry replied confidently, even though he didn't feel it. Dumbledore was unsure of how they could save Hermione, which didn't lead to optimism on his part.

"Be realistic, Harry," Ron snorted. "She's at Malfoy Manor, and the place is practically impenetrable."

"Maybe Snape will be able to help," Harry suggested with a grimace. He hated thinking that Snape could be of any help to them, but at this point he was looking like their best bet.

When Dumbledore had informed the Order that Hermione had been taken, he'd asked Snape to find out everything he could. A few days later Snape had returned with the news that Voldemort had announced they had captured Hermione. Snape claimed he didn't know where Hermione was located, but he promised to do everything he could to find out. However, so far he'd failed to come up with anything that could help them.

"It's a bad thing when we're relying on Snape," Ron grumbled. "How we do even know we can trust him?"

"We can't," Harry admitted. "But we have to trust Dumbledore, and he trusts Snape."

"No offence, but Dumbledore isn't exactly doing much to help us, is he?" Ron said. "He can't even break into the manor. And he was the one who assured us that Hermione was safe and that the dark couldn't get to her."

"Dumbledore couldn't have known what was going to happen," Harry said, immediately jumping to the defence of the headmaster. "He couldn't have predicated the dark would snatch Hermione in broad daylight."

"I guess not," Ron conceded. If he was going to blame Dumbledore, then he really had to blame everyone. They'd all been satisfied that Hermione was safe, and not one of them had suggested that they should keep her locked up for her own safety.

"Here comes Fred and George," Molly announced happily, breaking into the pair's conversation.

Fred and George had been on duty at the manor all afternoon, not that Harry and Ron were expecting any news. For weeks nothing had happened, and they didn't see why today would be any different. However, when Fred and George burst into the kitchen it was clear that something had them buzzing.

"What is it?" Ron demanded.

"We saw Hermione," Fred answered with a smile. "And she looks okay."

"Sit, explain," Molly ordered.

Fred and George took their seats and proceeded to explain how they were on duty and had spotted Hermione emerging from the manor. Using a pair of strong binoculars, the twins had watched Hermione as she'd walked around the gardens before settling on a bench. They also explained how an older woman had approached Hermione and the pair talked, before Hermione yelled at her and went storming back to the manor.

"Who was the woman?" Harry asked.

"We've never seen her before," George replied.

"We did get some pictures though," Fred added as he pulled a camera from his jacket pocket. "When they're developed we may be able to work out who she is."

"Could you hear any of what was being said?" Ron asked.

"Of course not," George answered. "We were too far away. We needed the binoculars to get a good look at what was going on."

"But Hermione looked to be yelling at the woman?" Harry checked.

"That's what it looked like," Fred said. "We took plenty of pictures, so maybe they can help work out what was going on."

"I'll call Dumbledore and let him know what's going on," Molly announced as she jumped to her feet.

An hour later, Dumbledore and a select group of the Order were at The Burrow as the last of the pictures Fred and George had taken were developed. With all the pictures developed, they were spread out across the table and the group had an idea of what had happened at the manor that afternoon. They also had several good pictures of the mystery woman Hermione had been arguing with.

"She looks like Hermione," Molly whispered as she studied one of the pictures. "I think this is her mother."

"I'm inclined to agree with Molly," Dumbledore said. "Now we've got a picture, we might be able to identify her."

"Do you think identifying her mother will help us?" Arthur asked.

"Hopefully," Dumbledore answered. "It'll certainly give us more insight into Voldemort and his life."

"I just wish we knew what they were saying," Harry grumbled, looking at the picture where Hermione looked to be screaming at the older witch.

"Unless we can develop some sort of bug, then we're just going to have to be content to watch," Dumbledore said. "And don't forget we don't want all of the Order listening to what's going on. I think for now, we'll settle for watching and taking pictures. At least we know Hermione is safe, and judging from these pictures, things aren't all cosy at the manor."

"But will we ever get her back?" Ron asked.

"I have faith," Dumbledore said. "Now we know she can enter and leave the manor itself, I'll talk to Severus about seeing if he can find out more about her situation. We might be able to pass a message to her, telling her not to give up hope. We'll get her back, I know we will."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen.**

Since discovering that something had happened to his daughter, Voldemort's focus had understandably been on Hermione. The information Severus had given him regarding Dumbledore's actions during the summer, had been pushed aside as his daughter took top priority. However, once Hermione was safely ensconced at the manor and they at least had some answers about what had happened to her, Voldemort turned his attention back to the ongoing war.

The first thing he'd done had been to arrange a series of Death Eater attacks to rattle the Order. The main action had taken place in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort had overseen the attacks, before he'd taken some time to himself to look into what Dumbledore had been doing. It was also the perfect opportunity to give Hermione some space as she tried to deal with what had happened. Voldemort wasn't the slightest bit surprised she didn't believe that she was his daughter, and he knew there was a strong possibility she might never believe it unless Severus was able to come up with an antidote.

To start with Voldemort had visited the seaside resort that Severus had mentioned visiting. Arriving at the cave where he'd long ago hidden one of his Horcruxes, Voldemort instantly knew the place had been disturbed. Half an hour later, his instincts were confirmed when he reached the place where the locket should be and found nothing. Somehow Dumbledore was onto his Horcruxes, and he'd managed to get his hands on at least one of them.

Unfortunately, another one had been destroyed years ago when Lucius had been trying to stir up trouble and hadn't realised the importance of the diary Voldemort had left in his care. Voldemort could have held the diary's loss against Lucius, but he understood the blond wizard's motives. If he'd known just how valuable the diary was, he never would have let it out of the manor. With two of them destroyed, Voldemort was now left with another four Horcruxes. Now he had to make sure Dumbledore didn't get to any more.

Voldemort immediately knew that at least two of his Horcruxes were safe out of the reach of Dumbledore. His snake, Nagini, was his newest Horcrux and she was settled safe at home, where she would stay until he needed her. There was also a silver cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff nestled in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts. He was fairly sure that Dumbledore couldn't have gotten his hands on the cup, but he made a mental note to get Bellatrix to double check it was safe when he returned home.

However, the other two Horcruxes were in places where Dumbledore just might be able to find them. One of them was at Hogwarts, so Voldemort decided to get Severus to retrieve it for him. The other one was hidden in the home of the Gaunts, his mother's family. Voldemort was well aware that Dumbledore knew who his mother was, so he wasn't expecting to find the ring he'd hidden in the ruins of the cottage his mother had lived in as a girl. Sure enough when Voldemort reached the house where his mother had once lived, there was no sign of his ring. Yet again, Dumbledore had struck and taken another of his Horcruxes.

Voldemort wasn't really sure how the old man knew about his Horcruxes, but he was suspecting it was a recent development. Hermione had never mentioned Dumbledore knowing about his Horcruxes, and she would have said something before the Order had tampered with her memories. That either meant that Dumbledore hadn't made it common knowledge that he had Horcruxes, or he'd found out about them after he'd tampered with Hermione's memories. Either way, he now knew about them and Voldemort was determined to make sure he didn't get his hands on any more.

Before he returned home to Adele, Voldemort paid visits to both Bellatrix and Severus. His trip to the Lestranges was short and sweet, and he merely requested that Bellatrix double check the cup was safe. If the cup was still secure in Bellatrix's vault, he saw no reason to move it. The visit to Severus took slightly longer as he had to wait around for the Potions Professor to be able to come home. The wards had alerted Severus he was at his cottage the moment he entered, but with his job, Severus couldn't just drop everything and return home. After giving Severus instructions to find and bring him the diadem, Voldemort headed home to Adele. He was itching to see if there were any developments with Hermione, and when he asked Severus, he hadn't known as he hadn't set eyes on her whenever he'd been at the manor.

When he arrived home, Voldemort instantly knew something had changed with Hermione. Adele greeted him as warmly as ever, but for the first time since they realised something was wrong with Hermione, her smile was genuine. He could still see the worry in her deep brown eyes, but he could also see hope.

"What's happened?" he asked. "Have you spoken to Hermione?"

"I have, I saw her last week," Adele replied. "Although, she's still refusing to believe we're her parents."

"That was to be expected," Voldemort said as he sat down and pulled Adele down next to him. "With what the Order's done to her, it's understandable that she won't believe she's our daughter."

"She might be struggling to accept we're here parents, but she's accepting Draco is the father of her baby," Adele said.

Voldemort's eyebrows shot up in surprise. It had only been three weeks since Hermione had arrived at the manor, and he'd expected it to take a lot longer than that for Draco to start getting through to her.

"Mind you, I don't think she realised what she said," Adele added. "I was trying to talk to her, and got annoyed and told me I wasn't her mother. As she was yelling, she mentioned that Draco was the father of her baby, but before I could press her on it, she stormed off."

"Still as fiery as ever," Voldemort said with an affectionate chuckle. He'd been worried by how much of her personality the Order had changed, and it was a relief to find that some things were still the same. "But at least we seem to be making progress. Did you talk to Draco about what she said?"

"I did, and he seemed quite surprised by her admission," Adele replied. "Draco said they'd spoken a few days earlier and he thought he'd started to get through to her, but he was really shocked that she was already accepting that the baby was his."

"I always knew Draco would be the one to get through to her," Voldemort said. "Although, I wouldn't go getting your hopes us just yet, Adele. Hermione is stubborn, and with her memories being altered, she'll fight this as much as she can. Her subconscious might be accepting that she's got a past with Draco, but I'm sure she'll fight it as much as possible. She'll come up with some way of explaining their relationship and convincing herself that it wasn't serious, just you wait."

"She can't deny the truth forever," Adele argued. "I'm sure Draco can win her over."

"He has got plenty of time before she has the baby," Voldemort agreed. "I think it'll be easier for him if he was making some progress before she had the baby."

"That would be nice for us all," Adele said with a wistful sigh.

"We'll get her back, Adele," Voldemort said reassuringly as he put an arm around her shoulders. "I promise, Hermione will return to us and the Order will pay for what they've done to our daughter."

After spending a few hours with Adele, Voldemort headed off to the manor. He was hoping to see Hermione, but he also wanted to talk to Lucius and Draco about the Order. They'd been watching the manor for weeks now, and he wondering if they could persuade them to make an attempt at rescuing Hermione. It could be a good way of eliminating a few more of their numbers.

When he arrived at the manor, Voldemort found Lucius in his study and after checking everything was okay, they sent for Draco. When Draco arrived in his father's study, the trio settled down to talk about the Order.

"Are they still watching the manor?" Voldemort checked.

"All day, every day," Draco replied. "They've got a camp in the woods, and there's always someone out there. However, they still haven't even attempted to breach the wards."

"That's because they can't breach the wards," Lucius snorted. "They will not get into the manor."

"I was thinking we could lure them into thinking they could breach the wards," Voldemort said. "If we could compromise an area of the distant wards, it might give them confidence to break through and try to snatch Hermione. Of course we'll be waiting, and we'll dispatch whoever comes through the wards."

"It could work," Lucius mused.

For a while the trio debated various ways they could weaken an area of the wards without it seeming suspicious. They quickly decided the best place to weaken the wards was near the bottom of the garden that backed onto the woods. After throwing a few more ideas around they decided they could weaken the wards by doing some gardening in the area. Lucius was confident that Narcissa would jump at the chance to overhaul the manor gardens. They could use the area where they planned on weakening the wards to dump the garden waste, giving it an overgrown and uncared for feel. Hopefully the Order would think the weakening of the wards was a natural occurrence as Narcissa overhauled the manors gardens.

"I'll go and speak to Narcissa," Lucius said as he got to his feet. "If we're going to do this, we'll have to do it before the weather gets too bad."

Voldemort waited until Lucius had left and he was alone with Draco before inquiring after Hermione. "How's my daughter?"

"She's avoiding me," Draco answered with a frustrated sigh. "We had a conversation last week, and I think I was getting through to her. I think I began to convince her that her memories of her with Weasley, are really of the two of us. I know Hermione, and she won't ignore logic. She can't pretend that her memories are real, she knows Weasley doesn't fit in them."

"I would say her conversation with Adele shows that you're getting through to her," Voldemort said. "She might not have meant to say anything, but she let it slip that she believes you're the father of her baby."

"I guess that's something," Draco replied with a slight smile. "But I wish she would at least talk to me. Since our conversation last week, she won't let me anywhere near her."

"Knowing Hermione, she's just been stubborn," Voldemort replied. "You're starting to get through to her, and she won't like that. She's beginning to realise she's been manipulated by the Order, and it's only natural she'll need time to come to terms with things. We just need to make sure she doesn't withdraw completely from us. You need to keep trying, Draco. Don't let her push you away."

"I'll try," Draco vowed. He knew it wouldn't be easy considering how volatile his girlfriend could be, but he wasn't going to give up on her.

"I know you'll do what's best for Hermione," Voldemort said as he got to his feet. "She's lucky to have you, Draco. I think before I go, I'm going to go and see her. Will she be in her room?"

"Probably," Draco answered. "If she thinks I've gone out, she might be in the library in my wing, but more than likely she'll be in her room. Although, I have no idea if she'll answer the door. I'm trying not to crowd her, so when she's in her room, I usually leave her alone."

"Whether she answers the door or not, I'm going to see her," Voldemort said. "She's my daughter, and I haven't seen her in weeks. I need to see for myself that she's okay."

"Good luck," Draco called as Voldemort left Lucius's office.

Voldemort quickly headed to Draco's wing of the manor, and a little bit of poking around led him to the room his daughter was residing in. He'd already checked the library and found it empty, so he was pretty confident that Hermione was in her room. However, when he knocked he got no answer and there was no sound to indicate there was anyone in the room. Voldemort knocked a couple more times, before taking out his wand and opening the door using magic.

"Hermione," he called softly as he slowly opened the door.

Entering the bedroom, he didn't bother to speak again as his eyes fell on his daughter. She was lying fast asleep on the bed, her hand resting on her small bump. Keeping quiet, Voldemort tiptoed to the edge of the bed and gently ran a hand through his daughter's curls.

"I wish you could remember, sweetheart," he whispered. "I'm sorry I ever left you with that blasted Order. I should have pulled you out the second I returned. You should have been safe at home. I will never forgive myself for putting you in danger, and I swear, those responsible for interfering in your life will pay."

Leaning over, Voldemort brushed a kiss over his daughter's forehead before straightening up again. Taking one final look at his sleeping daughter, he quietly left the room and shut the door behind him. In bed, Hermione rolled over in her sleep, a soft smile playing about her lips as her father left the room.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen.**

Hermione stood at the bedroom window with a frown on her face, watching Narcissa down in the garden. A week ago, Narcissa had suddenly started revamping the gardens at the manor. Hermione had watched as for the past week the older witch had magically torn up parts of the garden, and created a large compost heap near the woods at the bottom of the vast garden.

Even though Hermione had been watching Narcissa, she still had no idea what the witch was up to. It was now the beginning of November, and not exactly an ideal time of year for gardening. Of course Hermione suspected that things were different with magic, but she still didn't understand why Narcissa would be gardening in the middle of winter. Hermione suspected there was some other reason for Narcissa's sudden burst of green fingers, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

Turning away from the window, Hermione tried to figure out what was going on down in the manor gardens. However, after ten minutes she was just as confused as ever. If she wanted to know what was going on, she would have to ask and she wasn't sure if that was something she wanted to do. If she could, she avoided interacting with the people who had kidnapped her. Especially since she'd come to the horrifying conclusion that she'd lost her mind over her last year at Hogwarts and had cheated on her loving boyfriend with Draco. She just hoped that when she was rescued that Ron would be able to forgive her.

Thoughts of Ron, turned the focus of Hermione's attention to the Order, and with a gasp a thought suddenly occurred to her. Peering back out of the window, she located the compost pile Narcissa was creating and tried to work out just how close to the property's boundary line it was. Unfortunately, she didn't know the exact lay out of the manor's boundary lines so she wasn't really sure if her thought was correct.

Not giving herself a chance to think about what she was doing, Hermione whirled round and stalked out of the room she'd been staying in. For the first time since arriving at the manor, she turned towards where she knew Draco's room was located. However, it was only as she stalked down the corridor that she realised she had no idea which door led to his room. All she knew was that his room was a few doors down from the room she'd been staying in.

Retracing her steps, Hermione moved a few doors down from her room before she began trying each and every door. The third door she tried opened into a sumptuously decorated black and silver room, with dashes of green. Without even stepping inside, Hermione knew she'd found Draco's room. Taking a deep breath, she strode into the room in search of the blond wizard. The vast room looked to be empty, but just as she was going to give up she heard noises coming from an adjoining room, which if the lay out of the room was the same as hers, would be the bathroom.

Part of Hermione wanted to bolt from the room, but the part of her that needed to know what was going on, kept her where she was. Not wanting to sit on Draco's bed, Hermione pulled the chair out from his under his desk and sat down on it. As she waited for Draco, Hermione couldn't help but look around the room, and her eyes fell on a framed picture of her with Draco that was sitting on his bedside table. Getting back to her feet, Hermione walked over to the picture and plucked it from the bedside table. The picture showed her and Draco standing with their arms wrapped around each other as they grinned and waved at the camera.

Hermione frowned at the picture, looking for signs it had been doctored in some way, although she did think it was a bit extreme that Draco would have a fake picture in his room when the chances of her been in here were remote. Even though she was slowly coming to believe that Draco had seduced her and gotten her to cheat on Ron at school, she still wasn't willing to believe they'd had an actual relationship. She was convinced that anything that had happened between them had happened in school, and pictures like the one in her hand had to be fakes as it clearly wasn't taken at Hogwarts. In fact when Hermione looked closer at the picture she spotted what she thought was the Eiffel Tower in the background.

"Paris?" Hermione whispered to herself as she replaced the picture.

"It was taken last summer," a quiet voice said from behind Hermione.

Hermione whirled round to find Draco hovering in the doorway of the bathroom, a deep green towel wrapped around his waist. Hermione couldn't help but flick her eyes down Draco's torso, feeling a stirring of recognition inside her. It wasn't like she was seeing Draco half naked for the first time, she just had to close her eyes to see his naked body in her mind's eye. However, most of the time it was Ron's head on the body, even though recent experiences had taught her that Ron wasn't as toned as Draco. Either she was feeling so guilty over her fling with Ron that she'd imposed him on her memories of Draco, or the dark was right and someone had done something to twist her memories in some way.

"I should go," Hermione said softly, not wanting to be anywhere near the blond when she was feeling so conflicted. It was as though she was worried that he would sense that she was starting to doubt herself and the Order.

"Please, don't," Draco pleaded, holding his hands up as if to prove if didn't have his wand on him. "You came in here for a reason. Do you need anything, Hermione?"

When Draco made no move to come further into the room, Hermione remained where she was standing beside the bed.

"I did want something actually," Hermione confessed, deciding that she might as well get what she came for. "What is your mother up to?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked with a frown, wondering if his mother had approached Hermione for some reason.

"Down in the garden," Hermione clarified. "She's tearing it up. Why? It's November, not exactly the time of year for gardening."

"She's got some big plans for next year," Draco answered. "She's finally convinced Father to allow her to completely overhaul the gardens. It means the gardens need to be ready for fresh flowers and plants as soon as spring hits, so she needs to get rid of the old stuff now."

The explanation made perfect sense, but Hermione got the feeling Draco was lying to her. There was more going on, she could just sense it.

"And the pile of waste?" she questioned.

"It'll be destroyed when Mother is finished," Draco replied.

"Why not just destroy it as she digs stuff up?" Hermione asked. "Why let it build into such a big pile? Especially so close to the boundary line."

"How do you know it's close to the boundary line?" Draco asked warily.

"I didn't until just now," Hermione replied with a slight smirk. "And thank you Malfoy, you've just confirmed my suspicions."

"What suspicions?" Draco's eyes flashed angrily as he entered the room and strode towards Hermione.

Hermione backed away from the blond, until she was standing in the doorway of his bedroom. "My suspicions that all this is on purpose. You're deliberately placing all that waste near to the boundary line of the manor. What are you hoping, that it will weaken the wards and the Order will attack?"

"Now what would make you think such a devious thing?" Draco asked with a smirk as he backed away from Hermione.

Hermione was bang on the money with her accusations, and he was impressed that she could think of something so devious while under the influence of the spells Dumbledore had on her. It was like some part of the old Hermione was trying to get out. He just hoped that things continued to progress and that he would get his girlfriend back before their baby was due.

"It is what you're doing, isn't it?" Hermione pressed, trying not to dwell on how she'd worked out what the dark were up to. As Draco was subtly suggesting, it took a devious mind to come up with the idea of deliberately weakening the wards.

"And if it is?" Draco asked with a shrug.

"It won't work," Hermione insisted. "The Order are too smart to fall for such a trick."

"I guess that all depends on how much they want you back," Draco said. "I know I would have willingly walked into a trap just to help get you back where you belong. Sometimes it worth scarifying yourself for the people you love. If you're right, and Weasley does love you, he'll risk a potential trap if it means the Order will get you back."

"No, they're not stupid," Hermione reiterated, although she sounded a lot less confident. "I'm not worth the risk."

"You're worth double the risk," Draco replied solemnly. "But I guess only time will tell if the Order think you're worth it. We're betting they do, and that someone will walk into our trap."

"I'll warn them," Hermione blurted unthinkingly.

"There's no way for you to do that, Hermione," Draco replied with a chuckle. "If you could contact the Order, you would have done so already."

"I won't let you do this," Hermione vowed as she turned and flounced angrily out of Draco's room.

"You can't stop us," Draco called after Hermione.

With an annoyed snarl, Hermione stomped back in the room she'd been using and slammed the door behind her. As much as she hated to admit it, Draco was right. She had no way of warning the Order that the dark had set a trap for them. All she could do was wait and hope that they weren't stupid enough to fall for the ploy that Narcissa had weakened the wards with her landscaping exploits.

* * *

"I still say something about this doesn't feel right," Sirius insisted for roughly the tenth time since the meeting had begun.

The meeting at Grimmauld Place was only for a select few members, the ones who knew the full story of Hermione and who she truly was. Another meeting was planned for the following day, but right now things were being discussed that they didn't want other people to know about. Namely, how to get Hermione back from the clutches of the dark before she gave birth.

"I understand your wariness, Sirius, but I've checked it out, it's a genuine mistake on their part," Dumbledore replied. "I'd bet my life that no-one is aware that Narcissa's gardening is interfering with a small portion of the wards at far end of the garden."

"It's not just you're life you're betting though," Sirius pointed out. "You're asking all of us to put our lives on the line."

"If anyone is uncomfortable with the plan, they don't have to come," Dumbledore said. "We can make a party out of those people willing to try and rescue Hermione. I'm sure we'll have plenty of volunteers from the rest of the Order."

"Please Sirius, you're one of the best we've got," Harry pleaded with his godfather.

"Yeah, if anyone can help, you can," Ron added. By this point rescuing Hermione wasn't something he was overly bothered with, he just needed to know if the baby she was carrying was his, and the only way to find that out was to get her back.

"Fine, I'm in," Sirius sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "But for the record, I don't think this is wise."

"Wise or not it's the only opportunity we've had in the last few months," Dumbledore argued. "Time is running out to get Hermione back. We need to have her back before the baby is born."

"The dark will know who the father is by now," Molly pointed out. "If it's Ron child, how do we even know she's still pregnant?"

"I think we can say she's going to have the baby no matter who the father is," Dumbledore answered. "Don't forget the dark are trying to convince her she's truly on their side. Hurting her or endangering her pregnancy isn't going to help their cause. My best guess is that they're planning on acting the same way we are if the baby is Draco's. If the child is Ron's and she's still with them when she gives birth, I'd wager they're going to fake a death for the child and get rid of it. We can't let that happen, we need to have her back by then."

"Let's get on with the plan, then," Harry urged. He was eager to do something to help Hermione, especially now they had an opportunity for action.

"First things first, as I've clarified the work Narcissa is doing on the gardens is affecting a small portion of the most distant wards around the garden," Dumbledore began. "A little bit of sly magic and I can break and entire section, albeit it a small one. We enter through the broken ward unnoticed and launch an attack on the manor. That is where things are going to get tricky, because there's no way to sneak into the manor unnoticed."

"And the second we try and gain access to the house they could move Hermione," Harry added.

"I've got that all in hand," Dumbledore said. "The tracking spell we've got on Hermione is still in place, and I can turn it into a more specific locator spell. Once we're at the manor, Harry and Ron will use the spell to track Hermione while the rest of us split into groups and create diversions and keep everyone busy. If Hermione is moved, Harry and Ron can go back out through the broken ward and carry on tracking her. But I don't think they're going to move her. I think they're going to be confident enough that we can't get near her."

"And what if they're right?" Ron asked. "What if we can't get near her?"

"That's not an option," Harry insisted. "I don't care who we have to take out, but we will get Hermione back."

"And don't forget, once Hermione realises what's going on she's going to do her best to help," Dumbledore said. "As far as she's concerned, it's the dark who've kidnapped her. In her mind she's a loyal member of the Order and she'll be wanting to get back to Ron. Even if the baby she's carrying is Draco's and she's been told that, she won't believe it. Hermione is on our side, don't forget that."

"So when do we go?" Harry asked.

"I still want a few more days to thoroughly check out the wards," Dumbledore replied. "I want to be sure we're not walking into a trap."

"Or as sure as we can be," Sirius muttered. He still had a bad feeling about the whole plan, but he knew there was nothing more he could say to ensure people were more cautious. He'd voiced his worries and he had to trust that Dumbledore wasn't blind as to how devious the dark could play.

"At the next full meeting, we'll go over the plan again for everyone," Dumbledore announced. "As always, we want no mention of Hermione's true identity."

"And what about when we attack the manor, what if someone mentions it during the attack?" Ron questioned.

"It can be brushed off as the dark attempting to cause trouble," Molly suggested. "After all, whose going to believe that Hermione is really You-Know-Who's daughter. Everyone knows she's with Ron and expecting his baby."

"Exactly, any claims the dark make can be brushed off as wild accusation aimed at causing panic in our ranks," Dumbledore agreed. "But let's not worry about that. Let's focus on sorting this plan and assuring we get Hermione back. Right now, bringing Hermione home is our top priority."

Heads nodded in agreement as Dumbledore set about going over the details of the plan. In just a few days they were going to attack and with any luck they would get Hermione back. And once they had her back they were going to do everything in their power to ensure that the dark never got their hands on her again. Hermione was a part of the Order now, and that was how it was going to stay.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen.**

From the second they started weakening the wards at the back of Malfoy Manor, the dark were on high alert. They also had Severus keeping his ears open around the Order in case he heard anything. To be honest Voldemort still wasn't sure how much the Order actually trusted Severus, especially since he'd been unable to given them much information about Hermione's kidnapping. The official line he'd been feeding the Order was that Voldemort was keeping his plans for Hermione under wraps, and all he knew was that she was being held at the manor somewhere. But Voldemort wasn't sure if the Order were expecting more from Severus, and as a result might not trust him to be part of any rescue attempt of Hermione.

As it turned out, Severus wasn't included in the actual plans the Order were making to rescue Hermione, but an overheard conversation between Dumbledore and McGonagall at Hogwarts gave him the day the Order were planning to strike. With the day set, Voldemort set about ensuring that Malfoy Manor was impenetrable on the evening the Order were going to try and rescue Hermione. All day his Death Eaters had been slowly arriving at the manor, and getting their instructions for the fight ahead. By the time evening fell the house was packed with enough Death Eaters that it would be nigh on impossible to enter the house without having to force your way through dozens of people.

"Shouldn't we have moved Hermione?" Adele asked worriedly as she, Voldemort and the Malfoys had a last minute briefing.

"No," Voldemort replied with a shake of his head. "She's still got the tracking spell Dumbledore placed on her. If we move her, they'll know and they'll call off the rescue mission. This is our chance to take a few more of the Order out, and I'm not planning on missing it."

"But what about Hermione?" Adele insisted. "Once she realises what's going on, she's going to try her best to get to her rescuers. She could end up hurt in all this drama."

"Hermione will be perfectly safe," Voldemort reassured his partner. "Draco and I have been working all afternoon on adding a few protective wards around his wing of the manor. You and Narcissa will be up there with Hermione, and if the worst should happen and the Order infiltrates the manor, Draco will get the three of you to safety."

"You're going to be with us?" Adele asked her daughter's boyfriend. "I thought you would have wanted to fight."

"I do, but protecting Hermione and our unborn child is more important," Draco answered. "I'm sure I'll get a chance to fight at a later battle once Hermione is away from the danger. But tonight, she's my priority."

"I'm sure you will get your chance to fight, Draco," Voldemort said. "The Order might be coming tonight, but they're only moving because they think they've got the element of surprise. Once they realise what lies in wait for them, they'll run a mile. I just hope we can take a few of them out before they all retreat."

"I'm sure we can nab one or two," Lucius said with an evil looking smirk as they group prepared to go their separate ways and prepare for the evening's events.

As he headed up to his wing of the manor with his mother and Adele, Draco wished he could join in the fun, but he'd meant what he said about Hermione being his priority. All he cared about was her safety, and that meant sticking close to Hermione and away from all the action. Missing out on the fun and games was a small price to pay if it meant keeping his girlfriend and their unborn son safe.

Once the trio reached Draco's wing of the manor, he activated the wards he and Voldemort had set up earlier. Now it would take a while for anyone to enter his wing of the manor, and he would have enough warning to get Hermione, Narcissa and Adele away from danger if anyone did get near to his wing. Although, he seriously doubted they would have to run as the Order were going to need a miracle to even get near the manor, let alone inside of the vast house.

"Is Hermione in her room?" Adele asked.

"More than likely," Draco replied. "The library's also an option. She likes it in there."

"I'll try her room first," Adele said as she headed off in the direction of Hermione's room.

Draco and Narcissa followed Adele along the corridor, and when they reached Hermione's room, Adele knocked once before pushing open the door. Hermione was standing gazing out of the window and she didn't turn around as Adele greeted her warmly. Draco watched as Adele went over to Hermione and tried to converse with her daughter. Still Hermione said nothing and didn't move as she continued to look down on the vast gardens of the manor.

"It's tonight, isn't it?" Hermione suddenly asked, looking at Adele before turning around and fixing her piercing gaze on Draco.

"It is," Draco replied, not even bothering to pretend not to know what Hermione was referring to. They hadn't spoken since Hermione had visited his room a couple of days ago, but it had been clear then that Hermione had worked out the trap they had set for the Order and it was only going to be a matter of time before they sprung it.

"I didn't think they would fall for it," Hermione whispered sadly. "I was so sure they wouldn't risk their lives."

"I don't think they've really got any choice," Adele remarked.

"Of course they have a choice," Hermione retorted, turning to face the witch who insisted she was her mother. "There's always a choice."

"But there's not always a good choice," Adele argued gently. "And given what they've done to you, the Order left themselves with no good choices. Either they take a risk and try and save you, or they explain to everyone why they're abandoning you. Somehow I don't think everyone will support them when they find out they essentially kidnapped you and altered your memories. I don't even think the fact you're the Dark Lord's daughter will help explain that severe course of action."

"The Order don't have to tell people I'm his daughter, because it's not true," Hermione hissed. "There's only one set of people who've kidnapped me, and I'm with them right now. As hard as it might have been to take it, the Order should have decided not to try and save me. My life is not worth risking so many others."

"And what about the life of your baby?" Draco asked in a low voice. "The baby that Weasley thinks might be his. Don't you think that alone would warrant a rescue attempt? In Weasley's shoes I'd risk anything to rescue a witch I thought might be pregnant with my child."

Hermione said nothing as her hands fell to the small bump she was now sporting. She knew that Draco was right, and the fact she was pregnant would have played a large part in the Order's decision to try and save her. Part of her may have come to believe that the baby she was carrying was likely to be Draco's, but as far as the Order were concerned, Hermione was carrying Ron's child. That meant they would likely go to any lengths to save her and the baby, and Hermione felt guilty for risking their lives. After all, she doubted they would want to rescue her if they'd known that she'd succumbed to Draco during their final year at Hogwarts and indulged in a passionate affair with the former Slytherin.

"What happens if the Order win?" Hermione finally asked. "What happens if they reach me?"

"They won't," Draco answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "It'll be a miracle if they even reach the house, so the chances of them reaching us in this wing are nearly impossible. But don't worry, if the worst should happen, we'll be leaving."

"And if I refuse?" Hermione questioned.

"You don't get a choice," Draco said with a sharp bark of laughter. "If the Order even get close to us, we're going. I'll keep you safe Hermione, even if I have to remove you from the manor by force."

Hermione glared at Draco, hatred bubbling in her eyes, before she turned and refocused her attention outside. Knowing there wasn't anything else to say, Draco carried on to his own room and left Adele to try and bond with her daughter. Heading to the window in his own room, he looked out onto a view almost identical to the one Hermione was staring at a few rooms away.

"She will come round eventually," Narcissa said reassuringly as she joined her son at the window. She could see how much every interaction with Hermione hurt Draco as the young witch continued to reject him and the idea they loved each other.

"Will she?" Draco questioned with a sigh. "She might have acknowledged the baby might be mine, but she's unwilling to talk about it. She hates me, and I really can't see that changing anytime soon."

"You'll just have to show her how much she means to you," Narcissa said. "Once this is over and we've dampened the Order's spirits, maybe you should think of a way to try and reconnect with Hermione. I know you've been taking things slowly and letting her set the pace, but maybe it's time for a change of tactics. Don't just keep telling her that you love her, show her that you do."

Draco nodded at his mother's advice, wondering if it was time to try something different with Hermione. Although, right now he didn't really have time to think about trying to win his girlfriend back. He may not be part of the coming battle, but he still needed to be on high alert. The manor was going to see some action that evening, and everyone was going to need their wits about them if they wanted to shake up the light and prove to them that it didn't matter what they tried, they weren't getting Hermione back. She was where she belonged, and that was where she was going to stay.

* * *

A small party of a dozen Order members had volunteered to take part in the attempt to rescue Hermione. Dumbledore had decided against using all of the Order as he felt they had the upper hand and the element of surprise. After all, the dark had no idea Narcissa had been accidentally weakening the wards at the back of the manor. Dumbledore was confident that he and nine others could hold off the Malfoys while Harry and Ron made their way to Hermione. By using the tracking spell he already had on the young witch, he'd provided Harry and Ron with a magical globe which would lead them directly to Hermione and alert them if she was moved from the manor.

"Remember stealth is the key," Dumbledore whispered to the group as they all silently assembled in the woods they'd been using as their base for watching the manor.

Everyone nodded their heads and Dumbledore knew he could trust them to do a good job. After all, he had two current Aurors, an ex-Auror, a werewolf, a former convict, and several members of the Weasley family with him. Even though the Weasleys weren't trained for such missions they were all determined to do their best to help as aside from Ron and Arthur they were all convinced that they were helping to save Ron's unborn child.

Making their way to the wards, Dumbledore very carefully teased at the wards that Narcissa had affected with her gardening. Ever so slowly the wards began to crumble and before long Dumbledore had an entire section of the wards broken. He pointed out exactly where it was safe to cross the boundary lines and escorted everyone across and onto the grounds of the manor.

"Harry, Ron, are you ready?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded as he lifted the magical globe and checked it was working and that it showed Hermione's location. Providing the globe was accurate, Hermione was on the top floor at the east side of the manor. Scoping out the manor, Harry pinpointed the area of the vast house where he figured Hermione was located. The windows were all dark in that area of the manor, in fact the entire manor was in darkness, but Harry got the prickling sensation that eyes were on them, or at least on the large gardens of the manor.

"Let's go," Dumbledore announced once he was sure Harry and Ron were ready.

Everyone knew what they were doing and the group split into two as they crept towards the large manor. Harry and Ron slid off to the side of the house where they would find Hermione, while the rest of the Order approached from the other side. The group reached the area just behind the house when suddenly all the lights in the manor flicked on and the Order were illuminated creeping towards the house.

"Shit!" Sirius swore as dark figures stepped into the light and they realised the entire manor was surrounded by Death Eaters, or at least the back of the property was surrounded.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Lucius called with a dark chuckle as he stepped forward slightly. Like everyone else he was dressed in black, but he was one of a handful of Death Eaters not wearing masks. "Now what are all you people doing on my property?"

"You know what we're doing here," Dumbledore replied.

"And I'm sure you know you're not going to get her," Lucius retorted. "Hermione is where she belongs, with her family."

Harry and Ron gasped as they spotted those who didn't know about Hermione's true identity exchanging confused looks. If they escaped from the manor it looked as if they would have some explaining to do, or they would have to hope that Dumbledore could do as he promised and convince people that the dark were just trying to shake the Order.

"I'll give you all one final chance," Lucius announced loudly. "Leave my property now, and we can forget all about this intrusion."

"We're not leaving," Dumbledore insisted.

"I was hoping you would say that," Voldemort said with a smirk as he moved to stand next to Lucius. "I've been looking forward to this all day."

Raising his wand, Voldemort let out a loud cry as his Death Eaters charged, and in a flurry of spells from both sides the back gardens of Malfoy Manor became a battle ground where more than one person would lose their life that fateful evening.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N - Sorry for not posting yesterday, but when I got up I had no internet. It had looked as though I was going to be without internet for days, but luckily things were sorted quickly and I'm now back up and running. Thank you for everyone checking that all was okay when I didn't post yesterday. Hopefully things will now get back to normal and there were be the usual update tomorrow as well.**

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen.**

Hermione may have rarely left Draco's wing of the manor, but it had been impossible for her to miss the Death Eaters arriving over the course of the day. Given their presence it was only natural for Hermione to suspect the Order were going to strike and the dark's fiendish plan was going to pay off, and she wasn't surprised when Draco confirmed that an attack was imminent.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Hermione was hoping the dark's information was wrong as she continued to stare out into the growing darkness. She was praying that the Order weren't fools and had worked out that the weakening of the wards was an elaborate trap from the dark. Or if they did turn up, she hoped they were prepared and were more than a match for the Death Eaters that waited for them.

"Why don't we sit down," Adele suggested from Hermione's side.

Hermione was aware that Draco and Narcissa had left the bedroom, but Adele had remained by her side, clearly itching to talk to her. However, Hermione had ignored the woman who claimed to be her mother as she focused on what was possibly going to happen down below them.

"I don't want to sit down," Hermione replied, not tearing her gaze away from the dark window.

"You should be resting," Adele persisted.

"You mean you don't want me to see what's about to happen," Hermione spat, turning to face the older witch. "Why? Are you worried it might turn me against you? Well guess what, I'm already against you. I know exactly what your lot are capable of, and I will never accept such darkness. You can keep me a prisoner, but you can never force me to accept you or anyone else on the dark. I will never give you what you want, so you might as well give up."

"That will never happen," Adele said quietly. "I will never give up on you, Hermione. Nor will your father or Draco. We will do whatever it takes to get your back, even if it means slaughtering the entire Order."

"Killing innocent people won't help you," Hermione snorted with a shake of her head. "And if you thought it would, then you really don't know me at all."

"On the contrary, I know you better than you know yourself right now. And I know that if you were yourself, you would be right at the heart of this battle. You would never stand for what the Order did to you. You would make sure every last one of them paid for violating you."

Hermione shook her head one final time as she turned back to the window. Beside her Adele gave a sad little sigh, before gently running her hand down her arm as she turned to leave. Hermione waited until Adele had left the room, before she let out the breath she'd been holding and rested her head against the window. For some reason she always struggled to maintain her anger when Adele was around. She knew the woman was lying about being her mother, but there was still a part of her that reacted to her maternal nature and just wanted to seek comfort with someone who was putting on a good act of caring about her.

It took Hermione a couple of minutes to clear her head, and she looked up just in time to see what she thought were shadows at the far side of the garden. In an attempt to see better, Hermione all but pressed herself against the window. For nearly five minutes she was sure she could see shadows moving in the garden, but she wasn't sure if it was just anticipation making her see things. Then all of a sudden the manor lit up and the grounds were bathed in light, showing Hermione exactly what was happening down below.

Standing on the lawns just below her were a dozen members of the Order, obviously stunned by the sudden appearance of lights. Harry and Ron were almost directly under her window and were slightly apart from the others. As for the others, Hermione could clearly make out Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin and Kingsley. She could see four redheads, who were clearly Weasleys, but they were too far away from her window for her to see who they were. The other figures were also further away from her, but from where she was standing it looked like Tonks and Moody were the final members of the group.

From the angle she was at, Hermione couldn't see what was going on directly below her, but she noted the way Harry and Ron edged back towards the rest of the Order. If Hermione wasn't mistaken it looked as though Dumbledore was conversing with someone. Although why the dark didn't just attack was a mystery to Hermione. They clearly had the Order outnumbered, and a strike could take out both Harry and Dumbledore. Not that Hermione wanted Harry and Dumbledore to die, as without them she didn't know how much fight the Order would have in them, but she couldn't help but see the risk the Order were at. They were sitting ducks, and barring a miracle not many of them would escape from the trap they'd walked into.

Hermione had no sooner began to wonder why nothing was happening then jets of light started to appear, along with Death Eaters. In an instant the peace was shattered and Hermione could only watch as the dark engaged the light in battle. The Order had arranged themselves in a tight group, and Hermione noted the way they experienced fighters took to the front to deal with the Death Eaters. Still they were woefully outnumbered and Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before the Death Eaters took the upper hand and tore the Order to shreds.

As she watched the battle, and watched a Death Eater fall closely followed by a figure that looked like Remus Lupin, a lone tear trickled down Hermione's cheek, followed by several more. Hermione wasn't prone to crying fits, but she suspected her hormones were affecting her and enabling her to cry more easily. After all, she had plenty to cry about. Not only was she being held prisoner by the dark, and was more than likely carrying Draco's child, but now she was responsible for the deaths of her friends. Anyone who died tonight, and it looked like at least Lupin had gone, would do so because they were trying to save her, and Hermione wasn't sure she could live with that guilt.

Wiping at her tears as they were blurring her view, Hermione sucked in a breath as a beam of golden light appeared in the garden. Slowly the other lights from spells died down, and the bright beam of light was the only one on display. Hermione traced the beam in both directions and found Harry on one end and Voldemort on the other. She knew that when they'd clashed at the end of fourth year that their twin wands had connected and left them unable to fight each other, and it looked like the same thing had happened again.

For what seemed like an eternity the light glowed brightly as Harry and Voldemort tried to get control of the connection their wands shared. Then all of a sudden the light seemed to explode and Hermione had to shut her eyes against the glare. When she opened them again there was chaos down below her as masses of Death Eaters ran down the garden. In front of them, Hermione could see the Order running for their lives and she silently willed them on.

It was only once she spotted the Order disappearing from view that she looked back down below her. She couldn't see any sign of Lupin, but there were at least three Death Eaters lying on the ground. She also spotted another figure lying on the floor who wasn't wearing a robe, but she wasn't sure if they were part of the Order or a Death Eater not wearing robes.

Tearing herself away from the destruction, Hermione blankly made her way to the bed and collapsed onto it. Curling herself up in a ball she prayed that when all came to all the Order had escaped mostly unhurt. She was taking heart from Lupin's disappearance, and was hoping he'd managed to get up rather than someone taking his body with them. As for the fallen Death Eaters, she hoped they were all dead.

Lying on the bed, Hermione drifted off into a restless sleep and the next thing she knew, she was awoken by the feeling that she wasn't alone. The room was even darker than when she'd fallen asleep so Hermione flicked on the bedside lamp to light up the room. The first thing she saw was Draco, sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, his grey eyes watching her every move.

"You're watching me again," Hermione accused, not at all impressed with the intrusion. As hard as her experience had been as a prisoner of the dark, she had to give them credit for not intruding on her privacy or pushing her into talking to them. Or at least she did before she found Draco sitting in her bedroom while she was sleeping.

"I haven't been here long," Draco replied. "I just thought you might like to know you're safe. The Order have been dealt with, and I very much doubt they'll try another rescue attempt."

"Your version of safe and mine are very different," Hermione snorted. "I won't be safe until I'm away from this house."

"I'm not in the mood to debate who you are, and where you think you are safe," Draco replied sharply.

Hermione was rather taken aback by the sharpness of Draco's tone. She was used to him being sharp and snappy with her from school, but since the dark had kidnapped her, he'd been nothing but solicitous. The few times she'd seen his temper rise, he'd left the room rather than shout at her. Although to be honest, Hermione was much more comfortable with the snapping Draco than she was with the one who was trying to be nice to her and trying to win her over.

"What's wrong?" Hermione questioned. She wasn't overly bothered by what was getting under the blond wizard's skin, but she was desperate to hear about the battle and what had happened.

"Father's been injured," Draco replied, lurching to his feet and striding over to the window. "The Healer is with him now, and we'll know shortly if he's going to live. My uncle is also in a bad way, and we've already been told he won't last the night."

"I would say sorry, but I'm not," Hermione said as she got off the bed. "Your father and uncle got what they deserved. They dark incited the fight, so it's only right that some of them should perish."

"Some of them already have," Draco said quietly. "We lost two Death Eaters in battle."

"What about the Order?" Hermione asked, trying not to sound too eager in case Draco decided not to tell her anything.

"They also suffered casualties," Draco replied as he slowly turned to face Hermione. "Remus Lupin feel very early on, and as they ran Alastor Moody was taken out."

Hermione shut her eyes as she digested the news. Either someone like Sirius had managed to take Lupin with him, or else she'd been mistaken and the body without dark robes had been Lupin after all.

"Oh yes, and we have a prisoner down in the dungeons," Draco added. "A Weasley. We thought he was dead, but we found a pulse."

"Who?" Hermione's eyes flew open at the thought of a Weasley being held hostage downstairs.

"I don't know," Draco replied with a careless shrug. "I can't say I recognise him, but then again he is a bit battered and bloody. No doubt we'll find out who he is when The Dark Lord goes to see him."

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione whispered. "Why prolong the torment? You had both Harry and Dumbledore in your grasp tonight, yet he didn't kill them. Why? What's he waiting for?"

"You wanted your father to kill Potter and Dumbledore?" Draco asked in surprise. He might have thought Hermione's memories were returning if he didn't know that it was impossible until Severus found the antidote to the potion the Order had forced upon her.

"No, I didn't want them dead, but I can't help wondering why he let them go," Hermione replied. "He had them in the palm of his hands, yet he let them escape. He could have ended the war tonight."

"He couldn't," Draco said with a shake of his head. "True, he could have ended Dumbledore's life, but he's got plans for the old fool. As for Potter, we're not quite ready for him yet. After all, if killing Potter was as simple as setting a trap, we would have done it years ago. Why do you think you were still with the Order? You hadn't been able to deliver Potter to us, but then we discovered that even if you had, it wouldn't have mattered. The Dark Lord needs one more thing before he takes out Potter. And believe me, when he does take him out its going to be a damn sight more public than our back yard. After all, what's the point of destroying your enemies if no-one is there to witness it?"

Hermione turned away from Draco as she digested everything he'd just told her. He'd actually told her quite a lot, and if she ever managed to escape, it could prove useful to the Order. Of course she had to first escape, and Hermione already knew that wouldn't be easy. It was clear that rescue was no longer an option, so if she was going to escape the grasp of the dark she had to do it herself. Only now she knew she didn't just have herself and her child to fight for. There was a Weasley in the house, and Hermione wouldn't rest until he was back with his family.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen.**

Grimmauld Place was a sombre place as the Order licked their wounds following their disastrous attempt to save Hermione from Malfoy Manor. In the two days that had passed since the incident, the air had been thick with recriminations over what had gone wrong. Dumbledore had borne the brunt of the blame for not seeing that the weakening of the wards had been a trap, and for insisting they went in with such small numbers. However, everyone felt guilty for things going so badly wrong and for a couple of days the house was full of guilty people healing from their injuries.

Not one person had returned from Malfoy Manor uninjured, although injuries had ranged from the minor to the major. Harry and Ron had been those with minor injuries, but they had been more serious injuries in the group. Poor George had lost his ear, and Tonks's shoulder had been so badly slashed that she currently didn't have the use of her left arm. Then they were those who hadn't made it like Lupin and Moody.

Lupin had fallen fairly early, and Sirius had done all he could to protect his friend's body. When they used Harry's duel with Voldemort to escape, Sirius had dragged Remus's body with them, unwilling to leave his friend behind. Sadly, Moody had fallen as they retreated and they'd been unable to retrieve his body. He'd been giving the group protection as they left the grounds of the manor, and had paid the ultimate price for his bravery.

And finally, they had one missing among their numbers – Bill Weasley. Fred had seen his brother fall, but both he and George had been sure they'd seen him move after he'd hit the ground. However, they hadn't been able to get to him as Fred had been busy keeping George upright following the loss of his ear and they'd been forced to retreat with the others if they'd wanted to live. So at the moment, Bill was missing and it was thought he was in the dark's possession.

One of the reasons the Order didn't think Bill was dead was due to the fact they'd had no word from the dark. The morning after the battle, Snape had turned up at headquarters and informed them that Voldemort had given him a message to pass along. The message had been the location of an abandoned house, where the order had found Moody's body. Snape claimed not to know anything about Bill, although he'd promised to try and find them some information, and since they hadn't received his body along with Moody's the Order believed he was still alive.

Dozens of Order meetings had been held in the two days since the rescue attempt, but it had taken that long for Dumbledore to call a meeting of everyone who knew the truth about Hermione. Obviously in general Order meetings there were things that couldn't be said, and things needed to be discussed that wasn't public knowledge. Fortunately with everything that had happened since events at the manor, no-one had remembered Lucius's remark about Hermione being with her family and had asked any awkward questions. Although since that could change at any minute, the group were determined to make the most of the time they had before questions were asked.

"I think this was a sign," Sirius said, speaking as soon as everyone was present and the kitchen door was firmly shut to ward off eavesdroppers. "We weren't meant to rescue Hermione."

"And what about my son?" Molly demanded. She'd spent the last two days in floods of tears, but now she was fighting back and putting on a brave face as she vowed to get her eldest son back. "I hope you're not suggesting we abandon Bill."

"I don't want to say that, but what other choice do we have?" Sirius questioned. "I think it's just been proved that Malfoy Manor is impenetrable. My best friend was among those who paid the price for that move, so I don't suggest giving up lightly."

"I can't give up," Molly insisted. "Not as long as my son might be alive."

"We won't give up," Dumbledore assured Molly. "We're just going to have to be more careful next time."

"Next time?" Sirius snarled. "Next time they'll kill us all. We're bloody lucky so many of us escaped. I'm sorry about Bill, but Hermione is not worth this."

"Sirius is right," Ron said quietly.

"Ronald, I can't believe you would give up on your brother," Molly scolded, glaring at her youngest son.

"I'm not giving up on Bill, but I say we give up on Hermione," Ron said. "The dark are not going to let us have Hermione, but we might be able to find a way to save Bill. They won't guard him in the same way. They might not even keep him at the manor."

"Ron's right, the dark have been known to move prisoners before," Sirius said with a nod. "Let's focus on the person worth saving. Let's focus on Bill."

"And what about Hermione's baby?" Harry asked. "Have you forgotten that it might be Ron's?"

"And it might be Malfoy's," Ron retorted. "I don't want to give up on my child, but we don't even know if it is mine. We could all die trying to save Hermione and Malfoy's brat. I don't think that's worth the risk."

"Have you thought about what will happen if we don't save Hermione?" Dumbledore asked. "Have you thought about what people will say? The majority of the Order know she's pregnant, and they might have told other people. A fair portion of the country knows she's expecting, and they all think its Ron's child. Questions will be asked if we abandon her to the dark."

"Then we tell the truth," Molly said. "We explain why we're abandoning Hermione and focusing our energies on Bill."

"What we did was illegal, Molly," Dumbledore said gently. "We gave Hermione a potion to alter her memories, and essentially kidnapped her. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will agree with what we did, but there will be those that won't. Being The Dark Lord's daughter is not a criminal offence, and we really had no right to do what we did to her. We can claim we were just protecting the wizarding world, but where's our proof? We have no proof of Hermione ever doing anything against us. So while we might gain sympathy in some parts, we might also find ourselves facing criminal charges. Voldemort may not have control of the Ministry, but how hard do you think he'll find it to take control if we're found guilty and sent to Azkaban. If we confess we're handing victory to the dark without them having to lift a finger."

Silence followed Dumbledore's speech as they all digested what he was saying. As much as they all believed they'd done the right thing with Hermione, they could all see that Dumbledore had a point about the wider wizarding world. They could very well be condemned for their actions, and in admitting the truth they could hand victory to the dark.

"So it's agreed that we keep quiet," Dumbledore said finally, his eyes travelling over the rest of the group. One by one everyone nodded and agreed to keep quiet about Hermione.

"So now what?" Sirius questioned. "I agree that admitting the truth isn't possible, but you have to admit trying to save Hermione is also impossible. She might not know who she is, but the people she's with does. They won't let her go."

"I know," Dumbledore admitted. "I think what we need to do is focus on defeating Voldemort once and for all. At the same time we can try and gain some knowledge on Bill and try to save him. But defeating the dark could be the way to rescue both Bill and Hermione."

"So what, we just stop trying to save Hermione?" Harry asked. "I thought you said that would be suspicious."

"We do stop trying to save her," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "At least for the time being. As I said, defeating Voldemort is the way to go. However, as far as everyone else is concerned, we're still working on ways to save her. We can put on a show without having to do anything."

"And what if we don't defeat You-Know-Who before she has the baby?" Arthur asked. "What if she's carrying my grandchild and she gives birth with the dark? They won't let her keep the baby."

"Hermione's not due for another few months, so we've got some time to play with," Dumbledore said. "We need to focus on defeating Voldemort. Harry, Ron, I trust I can count on you two to help there."

"Of course," Harry said. "We're eager to assist in any way we can."

"Good, we can have a chat later," Dumbledore said as he rose to his feet. "Right now, it's time I got the wheels back in motion concerning Voldemort."

"And what about Bill?" Molly asked. "Are we not going to do anything?"

"We are," Dumbledore confirmed. "Just hold tight Molly. Your son is still alive, and we will rescue him. Until we know there's no hope, we won't give up."

"No, we won't," Molly agreed in a small voice as she let her mind wander to Bill, and what he could be going through in the hands of the dark.

* * *

For the first time since he realised something was going on with Hermione during the summer, Draco's girlfriend was not his priority or the focus of all his thoughts following the Order's attempts at rescuing her. He'd had a lot to deal with, and since he knew Hermione was safe and that she had Adele to keep an eye on her, Draco let himself be distracted from his pregnant girlfriend.

Firstly his focus was on his father, who had been stuck with a curse that had left him severely bleeding and fighting for his life. Even after the Healer had first examined Lucius, he couldn't give a prognosis either way. For twenty four hours it was touch and go and several times the Healer had to intervene to stop Lucius from going into cardiac arrest. Fortunately, Lucius pulled through the danger period and even though he was still dangerously ill, the chances of him dying were lessened.

While Lucius had been fighting for his life, Draco's uncle Rodolphus Lestrange had lost his fight. He'd also been hit by a curse during the battle, although the Healer had informed them immediately that Rodolphus wouldn't survive. Rodolphus had lived long enough to say goodbye to his brother, Rabastan and his wife, Bellatrix. Both of them had taken his death hard, and while Draco hadn't seen Rabastan since his brother died, his aunt had been around the manor a lot and she was simmering with anger at the loss of her husband.

With his father out of danger, Draco had paid a visit to Hermione, but she wouldn't even acknowledge his presence, let alone talk to him. A chat to Adele revealed that Hermione had closed herself off following the battle, and she refused to talk to anyone. All she did was rest in her bedroom or read in the library.

"Leave her for the time being," Draco said to Adele. "Christmas is coming up in a few weeks, and I've got something planned for her. It might not work as I would like, but it might at least get her to talk again."

"Anything is worth a try at this point," Adele said with a sigh. "I thought we were making progress, but the ambush the other night has changed everything."

"Maybe we didn't think it through very carefully," Draco admitted. The dark had been so keen to take the chance to shake the light that they'd never once considered how it would affect Hermione and her attitude towards them.

After leaving Adele, Draco checked on his father before heading down to the dungeons. For the last few days, Voldemort had been dealing with their prisoner. Draco thought his aunt might also have assisted The Dark Lord, and if she had, he felt a pang of pity for the Weasley in their grasp. His aunt was always up for a bit of torture, but given her grief filled state, Draco suspected she would be tougher than normal.

Down in the dungeons, Draco made his way to Weasley's cell without difficulty. Even though he'd never visited the cell, he knew which one was occupied by the screams emitting from the room. The door of the cell was half open when Draco reached it, and pushing it open completely he paused to take in the setting. Weasley was strung up by chains in the centre of the room, stripped to the waist. His body was dripping with blood and he was whimpering with pain as Voldemort stalked around him. Bellatrix was standing over the far side of the room, her wand at the ready and an evil smirk on her lips.

"Have you come to play, Draco?" Bellatrix called, spotting her nephew. "It's very therapeutic taking out your anger on a Weasley."

"I suppose that's one way of dealing with Rodolphus's death," Draco remarked as he crossed the room to stand with his aunt. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly when he reached her side.

"I'll survive," Bellatrix replied, reaching out and squeezing Draco's hand. "How's your father?"

"Still with us," Draco answered. "Mother hasn't left his side since it happened."

"I think I might go and see her," Bellatrix said. "I'm about finished here."

As Bellatrix passed the hanging Weasley as she made her way towards the door, Draco chuckled as she threw a casual Crucio at their prisoner. Draco knew for the curse to work you had to really mean to cause pain, and although his aunt flicked the curse out casually, she must have meant it to hurt as Weasley cried out in clear agony. For a moment, Draco thought Bellatrix was going to stick around for a bit more fun as her eyes lit up happily at the screams, but she dropped the spell and carried on with her plans to go and visit her sister and brother-in-law.

"What are we going to do with him?" Draco asked Voldemort as The Dark Lord joined him over the far side of the cell.

"I've got a few ideas," Voldemort replied with a smirk. "Firstly, I'm going to use him to bring Dumbledore down."

"How?" Draco asked.

"William here is going to make Dumbledore's recent actions public knowledge," Voldemort said, advancing on their prisoner. "Aren't you, William?"

"I will never do anything for you," Bill spat, blood flying from his mouth as well as a few pieces of broken tooth.

"Not willingly, but I've got other ways," Voldemort replied with a smirk before wheeling back around to face Draco. "This one is pretty tough, but he's told me enough to know that Dumbledore has kept Hermione's secret to himself, or at least he hasn't shared it with everyone."

"We know Potter and Weasley know about it," Draco mused. "Or at least, it's very likely they'll know."

"Now it's time for everyone to know," Voldemort announced. "Not only is it time for everyone to know who Hermione is, but it's time for everyone to find out what Dumbledore and his Order did to her. I'm giving you permission to tell your friends everything, Draco. After all, soon the entire wizarding world will know about Hermione and what's been done to her."

"What will that achieve?" Draco asked.

"It will ruin Albus Dumbledore," Voldemort answered. "And then there's just Potter to deal with."

"Are you making any progress there?" Draco questioned.

"Alas, not," Voldemort sighed.

With the destruction of several of his Horcruxes by the Order, it was more imperative than ever to remove the one he'd accidentally planted in Harry before he killed him, but it was proving hard to manage. So far he couldn't find a way of killing Harry without destroying the Horcrux, and with so few of them left, Voldemort didn't want to do that unless it was a final resort.

"Let me know if I can be of any help," Draco said.

"I will," Voldemort replied. "Now, do you fancy taking out a bit of your anger. All I ask is that you leave him alive. We're going to need him soon, and we're going to need him in some sort of reasonable condition."

"I could do with a bit of anger therapy," Draco said with a smirk.

Pulling out his wand, Draco stepped towards Bill and prepared to deliver a bit of torture on the redhead. He knew Bill hadn't had anything to do with what had happened to Hermione, but he was still part of the Order and an enemy of the dark. Besides, a bit of torture could be just what he needed to rid himself of the tension that had built up since the battle two days earlier.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen.**

Until Draco prepared to tell his friends about Hermione, he hadn't realised just what a burden it had been keeping such a huge secret from them. He'd been the only one of his group to find out about Hermione after The Dark Lord had initially returned at the end of fourth year, but instead of viewing it as a burden, he'd been thrilled to be trusted so much. Even in school it had never bothered him keeping Hermione's identity from his friends as he always had Hermione herself to talk to. However, since everything had gone wrong over the summer it had been harder to keep the secret, especially once they'd taken Hermione back from the dark and his friends thought she was merely a prisoner of the dark. But finally, he was going to be able to tell his friends everything and have their support as he fought to get his girlfriend back.

Even though his friends were Death Eaters and at The Dark Lord's beck and call, it still took a few days for everyone to be free at the same time. Draco could have told his friends one by one, but he'd already decided to tell them together so he waited until they could all meet up for the evening, which happened nearly a week after Voldemort had given him permission to tell his friends the truth.

"How's Lucius?" Blaise asked as the five wizards settled down with their drinks in the living room of Draco's wing of the manor.

"He's out of danger," Draco answered with a relieved sigh. His father was still recuperating in bed, but the healers were confident he would make a full recovery in time.

"That's a relief," Theo said. "To be honest I still can't believe the Order caused so much damage last week. They were so woefully outnumbered we should have slaughtered them."

"We did some damage," Draco replied with a shrug. "Two are dead, one is on our custody and I don't think we'll have to worry about any more rescue attempts. Since the battle, they haven't had a sentry in the woods."

"You really think they've given up on Granger?" Blaise questioned. "I thought they would have been more determined than ever to get her back, especially now she's not alone. We've now got two members of the Order in our clutches."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you lot about Hermione," Draco said, deciding to tackle the topic head on now his girlfriend had been mentioned.

"Hermione?" Theo repeated with a frown. "Since when has she been Hermione? What happened to Granger, or mudblood?"

"I can hardly call her a mudblood when she's not one," Draco answered with a chuckle. "Hermione is the daughter of The Dark Lord."

"Pull the other one, Draco," Greg said with a laugh.

"Yeah, as if we'd believe that," Vince chuckled.

"It's true," Draco said solemnly. "Hermione is The Dark Lord's daughter. She is also my girlfriend, and expecting my child."

"Bloody hell, you're serious, aren't you?" Theo spluttered, gazing at Draco in complete and utter shock.

"Deadly," Draco answered.

"I don't get it," Blaise said with a frown. "If she's your girlfriend and The Dark Lord's daughter why did we kidnap her?"

"That's a long story," Draco replied, summoning the bottle of firewhisky and topping up everyone's glasses.

For the next hour, Draco filled his friends in on everything that had happened since the end of their time at Hogwarts. His friends listened in open mouthed silence and when Draco was finished there was a heavy silence as the four former Slytherins digested what they'd been told.

"I don't know what to say," Blaise finally said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry Draco, this must all be so difficult for you."

"Difficult is a bit of an understatement," Draco snorted. "It's torture not having the witch I love remember me. It kills me every time she says she loves Weasley."

"That's some messed up crap the Order have pulled," Theo remarked. "I didn't know they had it in them."

"None of us did," Draco said. "If anyone had thought they were be capable of doing anything like that, Hermione wouldn't have been with them. We all thought she was safe and pulling the wool over their eyes."

"So what happens next?" Blaise questioned. "Can Snape get her memories back?"

"He's confident he will find an antidote, but he keeps warning us it's not going to be some quick fix," Draco answered. "Hermione could be like this for years."

"That's not good," Greg said softly.

"No, Greg, it's not," Draco agreed with a sigh. "I'm still going to try and get through to her, but since the incident with the Order she's barely speaking."

"She's still on their side?" Theo questioned. "Even after everything they'd done to her?"

"That's the thing, she doesn't believe they've done anything to her. In Hermione's eyes, we're the enemy. She believes we're the ones who have kidnapped her and who are lying to her."

"What about the baby?" Vince asked. "Doesn't that prove you're telling the truth?"

"At first she was adamant that the baby was Weasley's," Draco replied. "However, just recently she's admitted that she believes the baby is mine. I'm not sure how she's reached that conclusion, or what she's fooled herself into believing happened at Hogwarts, as she currently won't talk to me."

"So what's the situation with the Order now?" Blaise asked. "If they give up on her, people will ask questions. Especially if they've got everyone believing the baby is Weasley's."

"The Dark Lord is going to make it public knowledge who Hermione is," Draco explained. "He's going to tell the entire world just what the Order have done to her. With any luck, people will turn against Dumbledore. As for Potter and the rest of the Order, The Dark Lord is working on a plan to get rid of them. I'm just going to make sure I get hold of Weasley at one point. I'm going to make him pay for touching Hermione."

"If you want any help just say the word and we'll be there to assist," Blaise offered.

"Damn right we will," Theo snarled as Vince and Greg also pledged their support. "He needs to be taught a lesson."

"He will be," Draco said. "And believe me, it won't be pleasant."

"I'm sure it'll be no more than the little rat bastard deserves," Blaise said with a smirk.

Draco chuckled at the darkness in his friends and their willingness to stand by him. Even though they wouldn't get the chance to really get to know Hermione until they could return her memories, it meant a lot to him that they were willing to fight for her. At least now he had his friends firmly in his corner and when things got tough with Hermione, he had a few more people he could talk to and confide in.

* * *

Following the dark's devious trap for the Order, and the devastation that followed, Hermione retreated into herself. The guilt of being the cause of people dying was overwhelming, and she didn't know how to deal with it. The only thing she could do was push her feelings to one side and focus on saving both herself, and whichever Weasley was being held prisoner down in the dungeons. Without asking, Hermione had no idea who the prisoner was, but she wasn't going to give Draco the satisfaction of speaking to him. It was clear her silence was annoying him, and she was taking perverse pleasure of being the cause of the blond's frustrations.

Before the dark had set a trap for the Order, Hermione had been reading up on wards and how to circumvent them, so she returned to her research with added purpose now there was another innocent life at stake. However, it soon became clear that all she'd found out before was all there was to know. Basically most wards needed the person who had set them to release them, and the infusion of dark magic or blood magic into wards created fairly solid wards. The only bright spot was a book she found claiming that most wards could be undone with the wand that cast them, even if it wasn't the spell caster wielding the wand.

Slowly a plan began to form in Hermione's mind, although she had to admit it was a long shot and her chances of being caught and punished were high. However, she knew it was a chance she had to take, otherwise she, the Weasley in the dungeons and the child she would be carrying would be at the dark's mercy for as long as they desired. Luckily her plan involved getting her hands on Lucius's wand, and even though she wasn't talking to anyone, she'd heard enough to know he was still laid up in bed recovering from the altercation with the Order.

The main problem with Hermione's plan was that she had no idea where Lucius's bedroom was located. Aside from a couple of trips down to the garden, she hadn't really left Draco's wing of the manor much, but she would venture out into the rest of the manor if it gave her a way to escape. Fortunately, Draco still seemed to be heading off to work as normal so all Hermione had to do was wait until he'd left before she set off exploring. Given the size of the manor it took Hermione a couple of days, but finally she located Lucius and Narcissa's wing of the manor and she found the master bedroom.

With the knowledge of where she needed to be stored away, Hermione waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. Luckily the day came barely two weeks after the clash with the Order when she heard Draco and Narcissa leaving the manor together. Knowing she was all alone with Lucius and she wouldn't get a better opportunity to escape, Hermione made her way to the bedroom where she knew Lucius, and more importantly his wand, could be found.

Hermione was a bag of nerves as she quietly pushed open the door to Lucius's bedroom. Fortunately, Lucius was lying fast asleep in a large four poster bed as Hermione entered the room. Hermione didn't let herself get distracted by the opulent room, instead her eyes darted around looking for the cane she knew contained Lucius's wand. Finally she spotted the cane, resting against the wall nearest to the bed and just inches away from where Lucius was sleeping.

Knowing that silence was the key to her getting what she wanted, Hermione tiptoed over to the bed. At the side of the bed she couldn't help but stop and look down at Lucius. He looked paler than normal, and Hermione could see several deep lacerations on his bare chest. However, she knew from what she'd heard that he would recover and would likely have no ill effects from his near death experience. Tearing her gaze away from Lucius, Hermione reached out for the cane, knowing freedom was within her grasp.

Hermione was holding her breath as her fingers curled around the cane. However before she could move the cane, a strong hand wrapped around her wrist. Hermione jumped and gasped at the occurrence, and whirling round she found Lucius propped up in bed, watching her as his hand stopped her from stealing his cane.

"I didn't think stealing from an ill man was your style," Lucius drawled, keeping a surprisingly firm grip on Hermione's wrist.

"I need it," Hermione whispered. She knew there was no point pleading with Lucius, but she couldn't help herself. "Please Lucius, have a heart."

"Having a heart is stopping my son's girlfriend from trying to do something stupid," Lucius replied. "It won't work you know."

"What won't work?" Hermione asked, finally loosening her grip on Lucius's cane.

"Taking my wand to try and break the wards," Lucius replied, letting go of Hermione's wrist and pushing himself up he was sitting propped up against the headboard. His cane was now standing unprotected, but neither he nor Hermione made a move for it. "Given time, and by time I mean days, possibly even weeks, it might work, but you don't have that much time. There's no way you can leave the manor before Draco or Narcissa return."

"I have to try," Hermione said, glancing towards the cane and wondering if she could grab it and run before Lucius managed to stop her.

"Then by all means, take it and try," Lucius said, gesturing to his cane. "But before you do, all I ask is one thing."

"And why would I do something for you?" Hermione questioned warily. The last thing she'd expected was for Lucius to hand over his cane without a fuss.

"It's not for me, it's for you," Lucius replied. "Before you try and leave and go running back to the Order, I want you to really think about your memories. Not just the ones with Weasley, but all of them. Look for all the little inconsistences that will be there. For example, when did you start dating Weasley?"

"The back end of sixth year," Hermione said quietly.

"Then look at your memories and account for all the times you've been with him before then. How do you explain that?" Lucius questioned. "As I said, look for all the tiny things that just don't add up. I'll admit the Order were very clever using your cover as the base to change your memories, but even then, there will be things they didn't know about that just won't make sense. You're a smart girl Hermione, use your brains to see what's right in front of you. Your memories are not right, and deep down you know that."

"I know no such thing," Hermione protested, refusing to acknowledge the truth in Lucius's words.

"Stubborn as ever," Lucius said with a fond chuckle. "Take my wand if you wish, Hermione. But think about what I've said. If you still want to try and get to the Order, when they're the only people who could have possibly tampered with your memories, then go ahead and try. It won't work, but at least you'll have tried."

Hermione stared at Lucius, not knowing what to say to him. Annoyingly his words had struck a chord with her, and she was remembering the time Draco had asked her to do the same thing in regards to Ron. Even though she'd tried not to, she'd done as Draco asked and examined her memories and found the inconsistences with her relationship with Ron. However, she'd never thought about examining her memories as a whole, or rather she'd been too stubborn to do so, and she was now worried about what she would find.

Suddenly eager to get away from Lucius, Hermione grabbed his cane and without taking another look in his direction she fled from the room. Part of Hermione expected Lucius himself to try to come after her, or for him to summon help and get someone after her, but she made it back to the bedroom she'd been given unbothered. Locking the door behind her as she entered the room, Hermione placed Lucius's cane in the corner of the room and sat staring at it. The wand inside could very well be her way out of the manor, but all she could think about was what Lucius had said to her. Like it or not, she knew that before she did anything else she was going to take a good look at her memories. It was going to be hard to do, but Hermione had buried her head in the sand for long enough. It was time to find out the truth and decide once and for all who was lying to her.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen.**

Hermione sat on the bed, waiting for the healer to arrive, hardly able to believe that she hadn't taken her slim chance of escape. Three weeks ago she'd had Lucius's wand in her possession and much to her chagrin she hadn't used it. She'd been aware of how slim her chances of escaping with the wand had been, so Lucius's warnings on that score hadn't affected her, but the rest of his advice had struck a note with Hermione.

As hard as it had been to do, she'd sat down and really examined her memories. Lucius had been right in the fact that there were inconsistencies with her memories, and certain things didn't quite make sense. However, none of it was enough to convince her she was Voldemort's daughter. She would begrudgingly admit that something was wrong, and somewhere along the line her memories had been messed around with, but she downright refused to believe she was the daughter of that monster. There was nothing in the world that would convince her that she was really the daughter of the darkest wizard who ever lived.

However, it wasn't the general inconsistences with her memory that stopped her from using Lucius's wand to try and break the wards. She didn't go through with her plan to escape following a closer examination of her relationship with Ron. Hermione had already looked at her relationship with Ron and come to the painful conclusion she'd been seduced by Draco in their seventh year, but a closer looked revealed a much more disturbing truth. What Hermione found were two relationships, both very different, but both seemingly with Ron.

The first relationship started in fifth year, and consisted of secret moments and stolen kisses. Everything about that relationship screamed secrecy, and Hermione found hundreds of memories of clandestine meetings and sly notes being exchanged. The relationship also quickly took on a heated tone and several of Hermione's memories contained sexual scenes. Hermione was able to trace the evolution of the relationship from fifth year, through to seventh year, where she realised the memories turned into the ones she'd come to accept belonged to her ill-fated fling with Draco.

At the same time, Hermione found memories of a very different relationship with Ron. This one began at the end of sixth year, and was conducted very publically. The romance consisted of sweet kisses and a bit of handholding. All the love and attraction she'd found with her other memories were distinctly lacking with the second set, and there was a severe lack of passion in the relationship.

The discovery had rocked Hermione even more than when she'd been forced to accept she'd had a fling with Draco in seventh year, and he was the one who'd gotten her pregnant. Of course it might not have shocked her if she'd looked at her memories more closely in the first place, but for some reason she'd never dug too deep into her past. Even when Draco and the dark were making all these claims about who she was, and her relationship with Draco, she hadn't really examined all her memories. Maybe she just hadn't wanted to reach into the past as she was scared of what she would discover. As it was, what she had discovered had changed everything.

Hermione could now see that she hadn't just had an ill-fated fling with Draco. She'd had a full on relationship with him, and what was more, she'd really loved him. It had been her romance with Ron that had been the sham. Hermione could now see everything clearly and although Ron still featured in both sets of her memories, she now knew which ones were real and which ones were imposed on her memories of Draco. She now knew that she didn't love Ron, and she'd never loved him. She'd used him for some reason, and the thought made Hermione sick.

With the revelation that she'd been using Ron, Hermione had felt unable to try and escape. After all, why would he want her back when she'd only been using him in the first place? It was clear that before her memories were altered, she'd loved Draco, even if he was an enemy. Hermione just now didn't know who had changed her memories and why. When she'd thought her relationship with Draco had been a fling in their seventh year she'd convinced herself that she'd been the one to change her memories in order to remove a mistake and save her relationship with Ron. However, that now didn't make sense and she was left wondering who had changed her memories. Was her other original solution about Harry the answer? Had he discovered what Hermione had been up to, and meddled in order to keep his best friend's together.

Hermione didn't know either way, but one thing she did know was that she couldn't go back to the Order. She still refused to believe the dark's outrageous lies regarding her supposed relationship with Voldemort, but she was slowly coming to accept that maybe her allegiance had been with the dark. It had certainly been to Draco, and there was no questioning his loyalty to the dark. However, that didn't mean Hermione wanted to turn to the dark. On the contrary, she wanted nothing more than to escape from the lot of them, she just didn't know how.

It wasn't even as if Hermione still had Lucius's wand. Hermione had expected someone to come for it that very day, but it was three days later before Draco entered her room asking about his father's wand and cane. Hermione hadn't put up a fight when Draco had found the cane under the bed and removed it from her possession. She'd still been reeling from her discoveries and just the sight of Draco made her feel conflicted and angry with herself. Hermione hated him for what she was going through, but because she'd now accepted the majority of her memories of Ron were actually of him, she was also starting to develop feelings for him.

Out of stubbornness, Hermione hadn't admitted her discoveries, or her emerging feelings to anyone. In fact she was yet again barely speaking, and several people had tried to get through to her. Over the last few weeks, Hermione had endured multiple visits from Draco, several from Adele and Narcissa and even a couple from Voldemort. She found the visits from Voldemort the most disturbing as he was trying so hard to be pleasant to her, but all she could think about was what a monster he was, and how she would rather die than do anything to make him happy.

During one of Voldemort's visits he'd removed the tracking spell he claimed Dumbledore had put on her, so Hermione had wondered if she was to be moved, but as of yet she was still at the manor. In fact Hermione was becoming more convinced that she wasn't going to be moved before she had the baby as both Adele and Narcissa had tried to get her interested in decorating a nursery. They'd informed her that she could pick any room in Draco's wing of the manor as the nursery, but Hermione was refusing to co-operate with the two witches.

Thoughts of her baby turned Hermione's attention to the healer, who was due any minute to give her a check-up. Hermione was now nearly six months pregnant and it seemed as though her bump had grown significantly over the last few weeks. Within days it seemed to her as though she'd gone from barely showing to struggling to get her clothes over her ever expanding stomach. Hermione was still gazing down at her rapidly changing body when the healer and Adele entered the room.

Hermione knew by now that Adele or Narcissa were always present when she was examined by the healer, so she didn't complain about Adele's presence as the healer began to check her over. Hermione answered all the healer's questions, and fully expected to be told both she and the baby were doing fine, as she'd been told so every time the healer had visited. However, this time the healer expressed concern over Hermione's high blood pressure and urged her to relax more.

"Is it serious?" Adele asked the healer.

"It could lead to premature labour, but let's not worry unnecessarily," the healer replied. "A bit of rest and relaxation will help tremendously."

"I'll make sure she rests," Adele vowed.

Hermione also promised the healer she would rest and take it easy. She didn't think it worth pointing out that as a prisoner she was hardly relaxed as it had been clear since the beginning that the healer was a supporter of the dark. No doubt she wouldn't believe Hermione was being held against her will, or even if she did, Hermione doubted she would do anything about it.

Once the healer and Adele left, Hermione settled down on the bed, fully intending to have a nap. However, she'd barely been lying with her eyes shut for five minutes when she heard someone enter the room. Before she could open her eyes and see who it was, she felt someone sit down on the bed beside her and she knew it was Draco. Not only could she smell the scent she'd come to associate with him, but he was the only person who would perch on the bed while she was on it.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked without bothering to open her eyes.

"You're talking, that's a start," Draco replied and Hermione could hear the smirk in his voice. No doubt he thought he'd worn her down after weeks of her barely speaking.

"What do you want?" Hermione repeated.

"Adele mentioned the healer wanted you to rest more," Draco said, sounding genuinely concerned.

"That is what I'm trying to do," Hermione said, finally opening her eyes. Pulling herself up to a sitting position, she glared at Draco. "How am I supposed to rest if you're bugging me?"

"I don't mean to bug you, I'm just worried about you," Draco said softly. "I had intended to take you out this afternoon, but maybe it's not such a good idea."

"What do you mean by out?" Hermione asked, trying not to sound too excited at the prospect of finally leaving Malfoy Manor.

"There was something I wanted to show you," Draco said. "Maybe we can do it another time."

"No, I want to do it now," Hermione insisted. "Maybe getting out of here will help me relax. It's not easy being a prisoner."

"It's for your own good, Hermione," Draco said gently. "We all wish we didn't have to do this, but we do. The Order left us with no choice."

"There's always a choice, Malfoy," Hermione replied as she swing her legs off the bed. "So where are we going?"

"First I've got something for you." Getting to his feet, Draco pulled a box wrapped in silver and green Christmas paper from his pocket and held it out for Hermione. "I know it's early, but Merry Christmas, Hermione."

Hermione hesitantly took the box from Draco. Aware that he was watching her intently, Hermione carefully unwrapped the gift. Once the paper was removed she found herself holding a silver box. Flipping the lid off the box, she reached inside and her hand came out with a water globe. Inside the globe was a white and grey unicorn, prancing around in the snow.

"How did you know?" Hermione gasped, looking up at Draco in shock.

"Know what? That you collect water globes?" Draco asked with a teasing smile. "I know because I was the one who started your collection."

"No," Hermione said as she replaced the water globe back into the box and thrust it towards Draco. "I don't want this. I don't want any of this. I don't care what things were like before, they've changed. I'm sorry if I loved you before, but I don't love you now."

"What do you mean if you loved me before?" Draco asked, refusing to take the box back off Hermione. "Are your memories returning?"

"Nothing's changed with my memories," Hermione admitted. "I just took some advice I shouldn't have and confused myself."

"Father," Draco said as understanding lit up his face. When Lucius had told Draco about Hermione taking his wand, he'd also mentioned what he'd said to her, and it was Lucius who had persuaded him to give Hermione a couple of days to think things over before he went to get the wand and cane back.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione said, trying once again to get Draco to take back his gift. "It doesn't matter how things were, or what was going on between us. We can't go back, and more importantly I don't want to go back. I just want to be free. I just want me and my child to be safe."

"You are safe Hermione," Draco said gently. "And stop thrusting that box at me, as I'm not taking it back. I thought you might like to put it with your others."

"Others? You mean at home?"

"Yes, I mean at home. Do you want to go home, Hermione?"

"More than anything, but that's not possible," Hermione said sadly. "My parents have moved, but even if they hadn't, you wouldn't let me leave."

"Let me take you home," Draco offered.

Even though she knew he couldn't possibly be taking her home, and whatever he had planning was likely some sort of trick, Hermione nodded and allowed Draco to escort her from her bedroom and into the room that he used as a living area. The floo was already activated and Draco handed her some floo powder and gave her the address. He also warned her that the connection was limited and unless she wanted to travel to another fire inside the manor, the address he'd given her was the only one she could get to.

Needing to see what was he had planned, Hermione obediently flooed to the address Draco had given her. She landed in a comfortable looking living room which seemed vaguely familiar. When she'd tried looking at her memories of her parents, Hermione had been annoyed to find they were fuzzy and not very clear. Most of the time she hadn't even been able to fully take in her surroundings and the only place she had a clear memory of was her bedroom.

Draco stepped out of the fire moments after her, and he stood for a few seconds watching her reaction. Hiding her mixed emotions about the house where they'd landed, she turned to Draco and asked him what came next.

"None of this is familiar?" Draco questioned with a frown.

"I can't say that it is," Hermione answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm sure this next part will ring some bells," Draco said as he crossed the room and opened the door. "Are you coming?"

Hermione followed Draco across the room and out into a spacious landing. Draco immediately headed for the stairs, so Hermione followed him up the staircase. As with the room they'd just been in there was something vaguely familiar about the place, but Hermione couldn't say for sure whether she'd ever been in the house before or not. At the top of the stairs, Draco led the way to the furthest door and when he pushed it open, Hermione gasped in shock at her childhood bedroom laid out in front of her.

Stepping into the room, Hermione took in the room she'd grew up in. Every single thing was perfect, down to the soothing lavender of the walls and even the placement of the shelves and pictures on the walls. Hermione wandered around the room, picking up trinkets and mementoes from her childhood. It really was a perfect replica of her bedroom, and Hermione wasn't even sure she could have made such a good job of it herself.

"What do you think this is trying to prove?" Hermione asked as he picked up a stuffed bear that looked exactly like the one she'd cherished as a child. "Do you honestly think replicating my bedroom will convince me I'm The Dark Lord's daughter?"

"That's the only bit you're struggling with, isn't it?" Draco asked as he stood leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom. "Take away our claims about your father, and you believe everything else. You believe I'm the father of your child. You believe we were together and loved each other. You believe all that, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe," Hermione retorted. "What matters is how I feel. And I don't love you, Malfoy. I don't want to be with you, and I do not want to raise this child with you."

Draco winced at her brutal words and for a moment, Hermione felt the urge to apologise and take them back. However she held firm and after a few deep breaths, Draco hid his hurt and reminded her of the box in her hands. Glancing down at the box, Hermione turned around and made her way over to the glass unit in the corner of the room. Inside the unit were dozens of dazzling water globes, each containing a different figure in the glass ball.

"I can talk you through them," Draco said quietly and Hermione jumped slightly when she realised he was right behind her.

"I don't need you to do that," Hermione said as she opened the unit, removed the new water globe from the box and placed it onto a shelf next to a one which contained a pixie fluttering around.

"So you know every story behind these globes?" Draco whispered in her ear. "You know which one I bought you first."

"This one is my first," Hermione said, reaching for a water globe which contained a green dragon.

"It was," Draco replied with a small smile. "I bought it for you to remind you of me."

Hermione said nothing as she took in the water globe and what Draco had said about it. Funnily enough she couldn't remember how she'd gotten any of the water globes, all she could remember is that she collected them. As she stood in silence, Draco pointed out other water globes he'd bought for her and why. Some were for birthdays, others for Christmases, a couple for Valentine's Day, and several for no reason other than he wanted to spoil her and thought the figure inside the water globe was perfect for her.

"You believe me, don't you?" Draco asked as he replaced the water globe of the Eiffel Tower he'd bought for her in Paris the summer before their seventh year.

"A lot of what you're saying makes sense," Hermione admitted. "But it doesn't change anything. I don't know what exactly has happened to me, and before you start blaming Dumbledore and the Order again, I don't believe they would ever try to hurt me. If one of them did this, they had a good reason."

"What sort of good reason?" Draco snorted.

"They were trying to save me from you," Hermione said firmly as she pulled away from Draco. "It's just a shame that they've failed. I'm still stuck with you, and within a few months my child will also be stuck with you."

"Are you really so stubborn that you can't admit the truth?" Draco cried in annoyance. "You're virtually admitting we had a proper relationship, yet you're still wanting to deny what we meant to each other. You're also so determined to deny who your father is that you're ignoring all the evidence that points to who you truly are. Think about it Hermione, why would we have been together for so long if you weren't on the dark? You might not like it, but you're a dark witch."

"Never," Hermione hissed. "I am not a dark witch, and my child will not be raised to be dark."

Draco sighed as Hermione turned her back on him. Just as they were making progress, he'd lost his cool and now they were back to square one. He'd be lucky if Hermione spoke to him again after their row. But at least she was finally starting to admit that there was something wrong and that someone had done something to her. If only she could accept Voldemort was her father, everything might change and he might just get his girlfriend back.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N - I just want to thank people for their reviews and for their support of this story. I have to admit I'm surprised by the amount of hate for Hermione. I understand that it is frustrating that she won't believe what she's been told, but I don't for one minute think it would have been believable for her to just believe everything and be okay with the situation as she's far too stubborn for that. I guess it was different when I was writing it, because even when Hermione was frustrating to write, I always knew when and how her memories would be returning, and how dark she would be when she was back to normal, whereas reading it chapter at a time must be more annoying. I know people are eager for her memories to return, and I can promise it will be happening within the next couple of weeks. However, there's a few more twists and turns before the proper Hermione is back with us, and in the mean time, the Order need to start being brought down to size.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty.**

Following her trip with Draco, Hermione once again retreated from him and returned to spending as much time as possible alone in her room at the manor. However, she was unable to stop thinking about the conversation they'd had. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Voldemort, and whether or not he could truly be her father.

Out of pure stubbornness, Hermione had refused to believe the dark when they'd claimed she was the daughter of The Dark Lord. She didn't want to believe it, therefore she refused to even contemplate the idea. However, she found she couldn't hide forever and like it or not she had to consider the possibility that the dark were telling the truth. Especially as she was now convinced that everything else they had told her was true.

The funny thing was, if the dark hadn't claimed Voldemort was her father, Hermione might have believed them sooner. All it had really taken was a good look at her memories to show that everything Draco had told her was true. She was with him before she was with Ron, and someone had obviously tampered with her memories to make her believe her memories with Draco were really with Ron. But, unwilling to admit she could be related to Voldemort, Hermione had rebelled against everything she'd been told and it was only recently that she found that she couldn't deny the truth any longer.

Even with the doubts creeping into her head about Voldemort, Hermione was still reluctant to really consider the fact she was his daughter. Deep down she knew that if she was his daughter, everything would make perfect sense. It would explain why her allegiance had been with the dark and why she was involved with Draco. It would even explain why the Order would have taken such drastic measures as to change her memories. They were trying to protect themselves, and Hermione and the dark had given them the perfect cover by having Hermione pose as a muggleborn for years. All they'd done was make her pretence a reality.

It was the hardest thing that Hermione had ever done, but finally she admitted to herself that the dark had been telling her the truth the entire time. She was The Dark Lord's daughter, and until her memories had been altered she was more than happy to help him and the dark win the war. However, that was in the past and since her memories had been changed, she was no longer the same person. She was no longer his loyal, loving daughter, she was his enemy and even admitting the truth to herself didn't change Hermione's attitude towards the dark wizard. She would never again fight for the dark, and it was time they realised that they'd lost her.

Hermione doubted the dark would give up on that easily, but she was determined to make them see sense. For days she mulled over how best to go about things, and in the end she decided to talk to Draco. Her confusing feelings towards him still unsettled her, but he was still the person she felt the closest to at the manor, and he was the only one she could really picture herself sitting down to talk to. Although what she was going to say to him was a mystery, because she knew the second she admitted she was Voldemort's daughter the dark would think they had won. What she needed to do was convince them to let her go, not back to the Order as she knew that wasn't possible, but somewhere she and her child could live in peace away from the war. If she had to she would even agree to Draco playing some part in the child's life since he was their father. But she needed to be free, she needed to escape from the dark and live her own life.

Before Hermione had worked out the best way to approach Draco, he paid a visit to her room on Christmas Eve. Hermione wasn't sure what would be expected of her over the festive period, but it quickly became clear that Draco wasn't visiting her to discuss the holidays. He had a paper tucked under his arm and he was positively smug when he offered it to her to read.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Hermione questioned warily, unsure if she should take the paper or not. She hadn't been barred from reading the papers since arriving at the manor, but at the same time no-one had brought the papers to her before.

"I thought it might make interesting reading," Draco replied. "It's our Christmas present for the Order."

"What have you done?" Hermione gasped, grabbing the folded paper from Draco's hands.

"Read it and see," Draco said as he took a seat on a chair beside the window and gazed outside while Hermione sat down on the bed and unfolded the paper.

Hermione gasped at the sight that greeted her when she unfolded the paper. One the front page was a large picture of Dumbledore alongside the bold headline – _**The Dark Side of Albus Dumbledore**_. The first paragraph of the article then promised to reveal shocking secrets about Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix as revealed by one of their former members – Bill Weasley.

"Bill was the Weasley in the dungeons," Hermione concluded, looking over at Draco before she read the article.

"He was," Draco confirmed with a nod.

"So all this will be lies," Hermione spat.

"No, it's all the truth," Draco retorted. "Your father might have been the one in control of Weasley when he gave his interview, but everything that is said is true. Read it and see."

Not quite sure what to expect, Hermione slowly began to read the article. The article was basically an interview with Bill, where he revealed just who Hermione was and what Dumbledore and the Order had done to her. According to the article, Dumbledore and a select few members of the Order had drugged Hermione to take her memories, and then ensured that she was always with someone from the Order. Then when the dark had managed to get her back, rather than admit the truth, Dumbledore and his group had lied to the rest of the Order and risked a rescue attempt which had led to a couple of members of the Order losing their lives.

Bill then went on to name everyone who was in on Dumbledore's plan, including his youngest brother and parents. According to Bill he was so disgusted with what Dumbledore and the others had done that when he learnt the truth he walked away from them. Bill then claimed he never wanted to see his parents again, and that he was going somewhere far away from his family.

"What have you done?" Hermione demanded as she got to the end of the article. "Where's Bill now?"

"What we've done is told the world the truth, and with any luck caused some problems for Dumbledore and his cronies," Draco replied. "And as for Weasley, he's still in our custody but The Dark Lord is planning on obliviating him and sending him someplace the rest of the Weasleys will never find him."

"And what if people just think Dumbledore was justified in what he did?" Hermione questioned, relived that for the moment Bill was safe. "This article might not acknowledge it, but I was playing the Order for fools. I was the devious one, and they just did what they had to in order to protect themselves."

"Altering someone's memories and keeping them a prisoner is not what the so called light side should be doing," Draco shot back. "Nor is setting you up in a false relationship with Weasley and giving him permission to rape you."

"Ron never raped me," Hermione gasped, horrified at the accusation.

"He did," Draco replied in a low voice and Hermione could hear his controlled anger. "He knew you would never agree to sleep with him in your right mind, yet he still went ahead and did it. You might not have said no due to the memory tampering, but in my eyes it is still rape. I can promise you that when I get my hands on him, he won't have the equipment to do that to anyone else."

Hermione took a shaky breath as she allowed herself to see things from Draco's point of view. If she was going to believe that everything the dark had said was true, and by this point denying it was just making her seem foolish, she had to agree that Draco was right. She knew from studying her memories that she and Ron had never slept together before her memories were altered, and without the altering of her memories she would never have willingly gone to bed with him. By changing her memories the Order had changed her personality, and in doing so she'd agreed to do something she never would have done in her right mind.

"I still think this was reckless," Hermione said, unwilling to admit she thought Draco might have a point about Ron. "You might have been trying to destroy Dumbledore, but all you've done is paint a target on my back. Do you really think anyone is going to accept me now? Knowing I'm the daughter of that monster."

Draco opened his mouth to reply and Hermione's expected some sort of smug remark, but before he could form the words he froze and looked at her in total shock. A slow smirk then started to creep over his lips and Hermione realised her mistake. In her anger she'd let slip she was ready to believe she was the daughter of Lord Voldemort.

"It's about time," Draco crowed. "I have to admit, I had hoped logic would have gotten you there sooner, but then I forgot just how stubborn you can be. Even with all the evidence pointing to The Dark Lord being your father, you still tried to deny it."

"Can you blame me?" Hermione snorted. "Admitting he's my father is admitting my entire life is a lie."

"No, the life the Order tricked you into believing is the lie," Draco countered.

"It's not though, not anymore," Hermione said softly. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but this is who I am now. I'll admit that I've accepted that he's my father and you and I were together, but that's all changed now. All those lies I told the Order are now real, and that is who I am."

"No, Hermione, it isn't," Draco said urgently as he moved over to Hermione. Kneeling on the floor in front of her, he took her hand in his and gazed up at her with his deep grey eyes. "We can find a cure. We can bring you back to who you truly are."

"You don't know that for sure," Hermione whispered. "You're clutching at straws. I was there when Professor Snape spoke about the antidote. If there is one, it's going to take years to find. There's a good chance this is my life now."

"Then we can start again," Draco insisted. "This doesn't change anything, Hermione. I still love you."

"But I don't love you," Hermione replied solemnly, ignoring the niggling feelings she had for Draco as she was refusing to let them grow into anything stronger. "I don't want this. I don't want to be here, and I don't want to fight for the dark. If you really love me, you'll help me persuade The Dark Lord to let me go. I won't go back to the Order, and I won't fight against the dark, but I can't stay here. Let me go and make a new life for myself."

"And what about our son?" Draco asked in a whisper, his heart breaking as Hermione pleaded for him to let her go. "Am I supposed to let him go as well?"

"I'm sure we can come to an agreement," Hermione said smoothly. She knew that in order to get what she wanted she was going to have to address the baby issue, and in truth she didn't want her child to grow up without knowing their father, even if Hermione could never be with him again.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Hermione leaned forward and very gently pressed her lips against Draco's. It was a gentle tender kiss, and when Hermione pulled back, slightly stunned by how perfect it felt kissing Draco, she saw he had tears pooling in his eyes. Using his emotions to her advantage, and trying her best to ignore the butterflies now fluttering in her stomach following their kiss, she looked him in the eye and gently ran her thumb over his cheek.

"Please Draco," she whispered, deliberately using his first name in an attempt to get through to him. "Things can't go on like this. I believe you truly love me, and I believe you would do anything for me. Please do this for me, for our son. Let us leave. Let us have a life away from here, away from all the darkness and the fighting. Please, I'm begging you. Help me."

Not wanting to overplay her hand, Hermione fell quiet and waited for Draco's answer. For a couple of minutes he said nothing, and Hermione could see he was getting his emotions back under wraps. With a couple of deep breaths and some rapid blinking, the tears in his eyes disappeared and he looked his usual stoic self as he rose to his feet.

"I do love you, Hermione," he said quietly, his voice still choked with emotion. "And I will do what is right for you, and for our son."

"Does that mean you'll help me?" Hermione questioned.

"It means I've got some thinking to do," Draco replied.

Without another word, he turned and strode from the room. Hermione still had no idea if he was going to help her, but at least she'd tried. She had to believe she'd gotten through to him, and that his love for her would outweigh his desire to keep her close. It was all she could do for now, so to take her mind off Draco and the mixed emotions the kiss had left her with, she picked up the paper and re-read the article, wondering how the Order and in particular the Weasleys were taking the news.


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N – Over the weekend when I was sorting my chapters for this week's publication** **,** **and looking at my other work,** **I decided that I would like to finish the two stories I'm currently posting in November, so I can have a relaxing December. That means that Wicked Game will now be posted five times a week – Monday to Friday.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty One.**

For Ginny the last few months had been particularly tough as she'd been up at Hogwarts while all the drama had been going on. When she'd gone back to Hogwarts for her final year, everything had been perfect, and although the war was ongoing she'd been focused on more personal matters. She and Harry had been getting closer all the time, and Ron and Hermione had not only been settled in their own flat but Hermione was expecting a baby to complete their happiness. Ginny had thought everything was going right for the people she cared about, but then disaster struck and Hermione was kidnapped.

The second Ginny found out Hermione was missing she wanted to leave school so she could be at home and support her family and boyfriend. However, Molly wasn't having any of it and Ginny was forced to remain up at Hogwarts, her only news coming via the letters her brothers and Harry sent her. Ginny had been sick with worry about Hermione, and it had killed her that she had no idea what was happening to her pregnant friend. Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't the only one she was left worrying about as an attempt to rescue Hermione went tragically wrong when two people died, her eldest brother was captured, and George was severely injured.

Again Ginny had asked to return home following Bill's capture, but again Molly had refused and ordered her to stay at school. Not knowing what was happening with Bill or Hermione, Ginny had been forced to stay at school until the Christmas holidays. However, once the holidays hit, Ginny was back home and she got to witness the devastation for herself. Almost immediately it became clear that the Order were in disarray and following their previous rescue attempt, they weren't sure on how to proceed. Clearly they wanted Hermione and Bill back, but they had no idea how to save them without sacrificing yet more lives. As much as Ginny wanted her brother and Hermione back, she understood the reason for caution as like the rest of the Order she would be devastated to lose even more people.

By Christmas Eve, Ginny had all but joined the rest of the Order in their despondency. With the holidays being upon them, she couldn't help but think of Bill and Hermione and wonder how they were coping. She was especially worried about Hermione and the baby, and she hoped for Ron's sake that the Order found a way to get Hermione back before she gave birth. Ginny shuddered to think what would happen to her niece or nephew if he or she was born at Malfoy Manor in the clutches of the dark.

Not feeling at all festive, Ginny rose early on Christmas Eve and she was the only person up at The Burrow when the owl with the family's subscription from The Daily Prophet arrived. Paying for the paper by depositing a coin in the leather pouch the owl carried on its leg, Ginny settled down at the kitchen table to catch up with the day's news. What she didn't expect was to unfold the paper and find a large picture of Dumbledore on the front page along with the dramatic headline promising to reveal his dark side.

Intrigued, Ginny ploughed head first into the article and she was stunned to find the majority of it was an interview with Bill. Ginny read every word of the article, before returning to the beginning and reading it for a second time. After she finished reading the article for the second time, she slowly put the paper down and tried to clear the jumbled thoughts in her head.

Her initial thoughts had been that the interview with Bill was a fake, arranged by the dark to strike fear into the heart of the Order. To be honest she still didn't believe Bill would have given such an interview of his own free will. No matter what the content of the interview, Ginny was convinced that it either hadn't been her brother speaking to the reporter, or if it had been him, he'd been under the influence of someone from the dark.

As for the content of the article, Ginny had dismissed it out of hand on her first read. However, as she re-read the article for a second time, certain things seemed to make sense. If she took everything in the article at face value, it would answer a few niggling questions she'd always pushed to the back of her mind. Like why did the dark target Hermione? Out of all of the Order, some of whom would have known a lot more than Hermione, why did the dark pick her to kidnap? Ginny had always thought it was her friendship with Harry that had been the reason for the kidnap, but Harry had other friends, and honestly taking any of the Weasleys would have hurt Harry more. But of course it made perfect sense if Hermione was indeed Voldemort's daughter, and the dark were merely trying to reclaim her.

It also answered a few questions Ginny had about Hermione herself, and her relationship with Ron. Ginny had always liked Hermione, but the older witch had always been very cautious around her friends. She revealed very little of herself, and it was just occurring to Ginny that she didn't really know much about Hermione as a person. Maybe the reason she'd played her cards close to the chest was because she was living a lie, and the friendships she was forging were all an illusion. She wasn't really their friend, she was just using them, in particular Ron.

With the new information she had, Ginny could now see the glaring difference between Hermione's relationship with Ron before they left school and after they'd finished Hogwarts. Ginny had known the pair were a couple for over a year before they left Hogwarts, but she could now see she'd seen very little evidence of it. Hermione wasn't one for public displays of affection, and she wasn't very tactile with Ron. However, since leaving Hogwarts Ginny could recall several instances of the couple appearing all loved up together. She'd just assumed it was their relationship progressing and them feeling more comfortable together, but now it was seeming as though it was a product of the memory alterations Hermione had gone through.

To be honest, it was the claims about the Order altering Hermione's memories that were the hardest for Ginny to believe. With some consideration, Ginny could see how all the claims of Hermione being their enemy were true, but she was struggling with the fact that certain members of the Order, including some people she trusted, would do something as dark as changing Hermione's memories. She could understand the Order needing to protect themselves, and she could understand them hating Hermione for her deceptions, but altering her memories and forcing her to live a lie seemed rather extreme in her opinion. She just didn't understand why they didn't lock Hermione up somewhere when they discovered the truth. Of course that was providing that what the article claimed about Hermione's memories were true, but again if she was going to believe the pieces about Hermione's true identity, she was going to have to accept that the accusations against Dumbledore, her parents, Harry and Ron were also true.

However, believing the article raised serious questions about the morals of those involved with the scheme. Not only had they altered Hermione's memories, and been happy to let her live a lie, but they'd been happy to let Ron take the relationship with Hermione further than it had gone before. If Hermione had been using the Order, there was no way she would have been sleeping with Ron. Yet Ginny knew the pair had been sexually active since leaving Hogwarts. That meant her brother had willingly slept with a witch he knew would never consent to sex in her right mind, and the others had been happy to go along with that. Their plan had turned Ron into a rapist, and everyone else into co-conspirators of such a disgusting and abhorrent act.

Ginny was still sitting trying to wrap her head around everything she'd learnt when her parents entered the room. Given the situation, Molly and Arthur were hardly cheerful, but Arthur at least attempted to smile at his daughter.

"Is that the paper?" he asked, reaching for the newspaper in front of Ginny.

"You might want to read the main story," Ginny said sharply.

Both Molly and Arthur gave her a disapproving look, but Arthur's look morphed into one of horror as he stared down at the paper in his hands. Noting her husband's shock, Molly hurried over to him and she gasped out loud when she took in the headline and the beginning of the article. For several seconds both Molly and Arthur were silent as they scanned the article splashed all over the front page of the biggest selling paper in wizarding Britain.

"Have you read this?" Molly asked shakily, looking up at Ginny.

"I have," Ginny replied with a nod of her head. "And I just want to know one thing, how much of it is true?"

"It'll all be lies Ginny," Molly assured her daughter as her eyes skittered over the article her husband was devouring. "This is supposedly coming from Bill, and we all know he's been held captive. This is just the dark trying to get to us."

"It's pretty fanciful lies," Ginny snorted. "Although, surprisingly it makes a lot of sense. So I'll ask again, how much is true."

Molly opened her mouth, clearly to repeat her earlier reassurances, but Arthur stopped her with a gently hand on her arm. "She needs to know, Molly," he said softly.

"No," Molly whispered, sinking into the chair beside her husband.

"So it's true?" Ginny asked, taking her mother's reaction and her father's words as confirmation that the article was telling the truth. "Hermione is You-Know-Who's daughter, and when the Order found out they altered her memories so she stayed on our side. And the baby she's carrying isn't even Ron's."

"We don't know that for sure," Molly hissed. "They may be claiming its Malfoy's child, but we just don't know. Until we have proof to the contrary, we have to consider the fact that child could be Ron's."

"A child of rape," Ginny spat.

"Rape?" Molly gasped, blanching at the word.

"What else would you call sleeping with someone you know would never consent in her right mind?" Ginny demanded. "Dress it up how you want, but Ron raped Hermione and you all condoned it."

"It really wasn't like that," Arthur said weakly, although he couldn't help but by affected by his daughter's allegations and view their recent actions in a new light.

"I don't care what it was like," Ginny said with a sad shake of her. "What I care about is that you've been lying all this time."

"It's not that simple, Ginny," Arthur said softly. "This article is a sensationalised version of the story. I'll admit that the facts are true, but it's blown all out of proportion. We were just trying to do what was best for all of us. Hermione was a danger, so we neutralised her."

"Neutralising her would have been locking her up," Ginny argued passionately. "I get that you needed to do something once you discovered the truth about her, but what you did was stupid. Did you honestly believe you could just change her memories and everything would be okay? Did you really think her father would just walk away from her?"

"I don't think we really thought through the consequences," Arthur admitted. "Dumbledore came up with the plan, and we just all went along with it. None of us questioned what would happen once Hermione's memories were changed."

"No, you were all just stupid enough to believe nothing would happen and she would live a nice quiet life with Ron. A wizard who loved her so much, he was raping her," Ginny sneered, amazed at the stupidity of not only her parents, but everyone involved in the whole debacle. "I just don't get how you were all so naive. And then if you hadn't been stupid enough in the first place, you risked a suicide mission to get her back. What were you thinking? You-Know-Who was never going to let you get near to Hermione, not once he'd gone to all the trouble to get her back."

"We had to at least try, if nor for her then for the baby," Molly said quietly. "The dark may be claiming its Malfoy's child, but they're not going to say anything else are they? It was a risky move, I admit, but Hermione may very well be carrying my grandchild."

"I don't suppose it matters now," Ginny said with a dismissive shrug. "We're not getting Hermione back, and I doubt anyone else in the Order will want her back now the truth is out. She's better off with the enemy, since that's what she is."

"She was the enemy once, but not anymore," Arthur said, as he explained how the memory potion had worked and how it had changed Hermione. "Now do you see, Ginny? She's no longer the same girl who tricked us. That girl is gone. She's the girl she's always pretended to be."

"Then I feel sorry for her," Ginny said softly. She despised Hermione for her betrayal and for being the daughter of The Dark Lord, but she couldn't help feel pity for the situation she'd found herself in, and the treatment she'd suffered at the hands of her brother. "She's stuck with the dark whether she likes it or not. She might not remember her past life, but I can't see her father letting her go. In her mind she must be little more than a prisoner. It seems to me, we'd be best off leaving her to her fate. Besides, as much as it pains me to say this, I think she's safer with the dark. No matter what she's done, she didn't deserve to be raped."

"And your brother?" Molly demanded, refusing to deal with Ginny's allegations against Ron. "Do you suggest we leave him to his fate as well?"

"I want Bill home as much as anyone, but its obvious no-one knows how to save him," Ginny argued. "Maybe instead of focusing on rescue missions, the Order should concentrate on winning this damn war. If we get rid of You-Know-Who, we might just be able to save Bill."

Molly and Arthur looked at each other, both surprised by their daughter's wisdom. As the youngest, Ginny was often overlooked, and she wasn't always included, but it was obvious she had a smart head on her shoulders. They both acknowledged she was right, and the best way to save Bill was to defeat Voldemort and win the war. However, to win the war the Order needed to be united and after the revelations in the papers they doubted unity was present at the moment.

Deciding it was time to check in with the rest of the Order, Molly and Arthur got cleaned up before they headed to headquarters with Ginny. When they arrived, Grimmauld Place was in meltdown and arguments could be heard all over the house. It seemed as though the entire Order had descended onto headquarters and no-one was happy with the revelations in the day's paper. Even Dumbledore couldn't get everyone's attention, and there was a real sense of rebellion among some of the people who hadn't been involved in the plan to alter Hermione's memories.

Leaving the adults to their arguments, Ginny sought out Ron and Harry. She found the pair lurking in Harry's bedroom, and it was obvious that they'd both suffered some abuse from angry members of the Order. Although personally she thought they deserved everything that came their way. Ginny herself greeted both boys with a stern glare and a sharp slap to the head.

"Damnit, Ginny, that bloody hurts," Ron moaned, rubbing at his head where his sister had slapped him.

"Maybe it'll knock some sense into you both," Ginny said sharply. "I can't believe you went along with such a foolish plan. Could you not see it was going to blow up in your faces?"

"We hadn't really thought that far ahead," Harry sheepishly admitted.

"Obviously," Ginny retorted with a roll of her eyes.

"How are things downstairs?" Ron asked warily.

"Bad," Ginny answered honestly. "There could be a full on rebellion."

"We can't let that happen," Harry insisted. "This is clearly what the dark wanted. They wanted us to turn on one another. We can't let them win."

"The dark haven't caused this," Ginny said, shaking her head at her boyfriend. "This was caused by the group who decided it was a good idea to alter Hermione's memories. The dark brought it all to light, but you two and the rest of Dumbledore's little band have brought this on yourselves. You're the cause of all this trouble, and you want to hope that the Order doesn't disintegrate or we'll never win this war."

"You're right, we're to blame and we need to help fix things," Harry said sombrely. "We can't let this ruin our chances of winning the war. We need to stick together."

"Try telling the rest of the Order that," Ron snorted. "You saw how they were reacting, Harry. Fred almost flattened me when he saw us. Not to mention what he and George were saying."

"What was he saying?" Ginny asked.

"It doesn't matter," Ron mumbled, his face flushing red.

"What did they say?" Ginny demanded, not sure if Ron was embarrassed or angry by what the twins had said to him.

"They called me an ugly word," Ron whispered.

"Rapist?" Ginny guessed.

"Yes," Harry replied with a sad nod of his head.

"Then they were right," Ginny announced.

"Ginny," Harry gasped as Ron looked at his sister with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ron, but that's what you are. You slept with Hermione knowing she would never give her consent if she was in her right mind. That's rape in my book. I will never again be able to look at you in the same way."

"I'm sorry," Ron whispered.

"I'm not the one who needs the apology," Ginny said. "Right now, what you need to do is get the rest of the Order to remain united. As disgusted as I am with everyone involved in this mess, we can't let it break us."

"We have to face the music, Ron," Harry said. "Ginny's right, we're partially responsible for this mess. We need to unite the Order before the dark gets exactly what they want and tear us apart."

Even though Ron was reluctant, he agreed with Harry and Ginny watched as they headed back into the fray to try and help matters. Not that Ginny knew if it was going to work, but she had to commend them for trying. The dark had thrown a grenade into the heart of the Order with their newspaper revelations, but hopefully the festive season would help mend the wounds. After all, what better time of year was there for the Order to forgive and forget than at Christmas?


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two.**

Christmas at Malfoy Manor was relatively quiet, with no big celebrations. Even though Hermione was safely with the dark, she wasn't yet herself and no-one saw any real cause to celebrate. Much to people's surprise, Hermione actually ate Christmas dinner with everyone else, and she even put in another couple of appearances over the holidays.

Voldemort and Adele were taking Hermione's appearances over the festive period as hope that they were finally getting their daughter back, but following their talk on Christmas Eve, Draco knew better. He knew Hermione was using the opportunities to get under his skin as every time he as much as glanced in her direction she would look at him with sad eyes, silently pleading for him to help her. Draco had to admire the fact her cunning nature was still intact as she was obviously playing on his feelings for her to get what she wanted.

Since their talk, Draco hadn't been able to get Hermione's request out of his head, and as much as he wanted to dismiss it out of hand, he knew he couldn't do that. Despite everything, he loved Hermione more than anything, and as hard as it would be for him, he knew he would do anything in his power to make her life easier and more bearable. However, Draco wasn't sure what Voldemort's opinions would be on the matter so he took some time to get his own thoughts in place before approaching The Dark Lord.

Draco had been almost certain what he was going to say to Voldemort by New Year's Eve, but his mind was made up following a talk with Severus. Draco had asked about the antidote for Hermione's memories and Severus had admitted things were moving slower than he'd hoped. Due to his duties up at Hogwarts, and his position as a spy within the Order, he hadn't had a lot of free time in the last few weeks, and following Lucius's recent injuries his father hadn't been much use of late either. All in all it meant that any antidote wasn't going to be discovered anytime soon.

After hovering outside of his father's study for nearly half an hour, Draco finally plucked up the courage to knock. He knew his father and Voldemort had been discussing plans for the New Year, and how they were going to deal with the Order. Severus had told them enough for them to know that there was serious dissent within the Order, and even relations between the Weasleys were fractured as several members of the family struggled to accept what had been done to Hermione. However, after the initial backlash following the article in The Daily Prophet the Order had rallied and stood together, but Severus was confident that nothing had really been resolved and it wouldn't take much to break the Order into a thousand pieces. Not that Draco was too concerned with the Order right now, all he could think about was Hermione.

"Draco, come and join us," Voldemort offered as Draco entered the study. "We're just debating on if we should send the Order our best wishes for the New Year."

"It's rather late to put something together," Draco replied.

"I'm not talking anything elaborate, just a bit of fun," Voldemort said. "Maybe you and your friends would like the job."

"I'm sure my friends would love the chance to have a bit of fun at the Order's expense," Draco replied, knowing for a fact that his friends were always eager for action.

"But not you?" Voldemort questioned, sharing a confused frown with Lucius.

"I've got other things in my mind," Draco admitted.

"Hermione," Voldemort guessed. "It looks like we're finally making progress there."

"Yes, it was nice to see her over Christmas," Lucius agreed.

"It's not what it seems," Draco replied with a sigh.

"Really? It seemed to me like she was finally starting to believe us about everything," Lucius remarked.

"She believes everything we've told her," Draco confirmed.

"She believes I'm her father?" Voldemort questioned and Draco winced at the hopefulness that appeared on The Dark Lord's usually guarded face.

"She could only deny the truth for so long," Draco said. "Even someone as stubborn as Hermione had to admit what we were saying made sense."

"So she was denying it because she didn't want to believe it," Lucius said.

"Exactly," Draco said with a nod. "Truth be told, she still doesn't want to believe it. She knows it's all true, but she wishes it wasn't."

"That's because her memories are missing," Voldemort said with a dismissive shrug of his shoulder. "Once we fix her memories, she'll be just fine."

"I hope so, but we have to consider the fact that it won't be happening any time soon," Draco said quietly, not sure how Voldemort was going to take what else he had to talk to him about.

Voldemort frowned as he gave Draco a long, scrutinising look. "You know Draco, if I didn't know you any better I would say you were ready to give up on Hermione."

"I will never give up on her," Draco vowed fiercely. "But we talked on Christmas Eve, and she asked me to help her."

"Help her how?" Lucius asked.

"She wants to leave," Draco replied.

"Never!" Voldemort's hand slammed down hard on the desk, causing several things to skitter over the polished wooden surface. "I can't believe you're even suggesting this, Draco."

"Neither can I, but I've done a lot of thinking over the last week," Draco replied, trying his best to remain unaffected by Voldemort's show of anger. He knew he was privileged enough to have Voldemort's trust, but he also knew that if he seriously upset him that he wouldn't think twice about hurting him.

"And you think we should give up on Hermione?" Voldemort snorted, his eyes blazing angrily as he glared at the young wizard he'd always thought was devoted to his daughter.

"I think we should do everything in our power to make sure we don't lose her," Draco replied firmly. "She might believe what we've told her, but as I've said, she doesn't want it to be true. Without her memories, she doesn't want to be your daughter. She doesn't want to be my girlfriend. She doesn't want either of us."

Voldemort paused, seeing how conflicted Draco was. He'd been so caught up in his anger at what Draco was saying that he'd been blind to what the young wizard was going through. However, he could now see that Draco wasn't saying these things lightly. In fact he looked broken hearted to even be saying them at all.

"Go on," Voldemort urged in a low voice.

"Hermione's made it clear that she doesn't want this life," Draco said. "Right now she's stuck with all these false memories, and she doesn't fit in anywhere. She's accepted that the Order have done this to her, and she knows she can no longer be with them. However, she doesn't want to be with us. Without her real memories, she doesn't want any part in what being your daughter means. She doesn't want to be part of the war. She also doesn't want me, even though she's accepted that I love her and she's carrying my son."

"What's your solution then?" Voldemort asked. "I thought we were going to prove to her that we love her, and that she belongs with us."

"We are," Draco replied. "But keeping her here against her will isn't going to achieve that. It could be years before the antidote is found, and until then we can't keep her locked up against her will. She will have her memories of this time with us when we fix her old memories, and I'm scared that if we keep her like this against her will she might still hate us even when her old memories are returned."

Voldemort nodded, seeing Draco's point. How they treated Hermione now would always stay with her, and even with her old memories back, he didn't want her to have cause to still hate them. He could see what Draco was getting at, and he could easily see that if they continued the way they were going then there was a chance they would still lose Hermione. Still, letting her go completely was out of the question as there was no way Voldemort was going to lose his daughter a second time.

"What's the answer then?" Voldemort asked. "How do we prove to Hermione we love her without turning her against us?"

"We do as she requested and let her go," Draco answered, having to force the words from his lips as he the last thing he wanted to do was let the witch he loved go. "She wants to leave here, and as much as I want her to stay, I think we have to let her leave. I think letting her go is the only way to hold onto her."

"My grandmother used to say that if you love someone you can let them go and if they love you then they'll return," Lucius said quietly. "Is that what we're going to do with Hermione?"

"Of a kind," Draco said. "Although I'm not suggesting just opening the doors and letting her leave. I'm sure we can find a Malfoy property for her to stay at, and I'm sure we can find a way to make sure we know where she is at all times. We can't risk her leaving completely, because then we'll never find her when the antidote is ready."

"What about the baby?" Voldemort asked. "Are you happy for her to leave with your child?"

"Obviously I would prefer it if she stayed here, but unless we're going to carry on keeping her against her will, it's not going to happen," Draco replied. "She agreed to let me see the baby, so I'm sure we can draw up some sort of unbreakable agreement so that she can't renege on our deal."

Voldemort nodded again as he pursed his lips thoughtfully, running over everything Draco had just said. "Give me some time to think this over, Draco."

Recognising Voldemort's tone of voice as a dismissal, Draco thanked him for listening as he got to his feet. Leaving Voldemort to think over what he'd said, as well as planning for a New Year's surprise for the Order, Draco left his father's study and headed back to his wing of the manor. He found Hermione in the library curled up with a book, but rather then tell her he'd spoken to her father, he'd watched her unnoticed for a couple of minutes, before retreating to the privacy of his own room. He knew he'd done the right thing for Hermione in asking for her freedom, but he felt as though he'd broken his own heart in the process.

* * *

By New Year, Hermione had all but given up hope of Draco coming through for her and getting her out of the manor. Over the holidays she'd made more of an effort to join everyone else, just so she could see him and keep up the pressure on him. She never had to say anything, just looked at him silently, but she could tell she was affecting him. In fact she'd been confident his love for her would trump his own desires to keep her near, but so far she'd been proved wrong and Draco hadn't given her the one thing she'd asked for since arriving at the manor.

With her hopes of leaving the manor fading, Hermione had retreated back to Draco's wing where she spent most of her time reading up on babies and preparing herself for becoming a mother. In fact she was in Draco's library, absorbed in a baby book when she felt someone enter the room. Looking up she expected to find Draco, so she was shocked to find Voldemort himself entering the room. Voldemort had tried to talk to her a couple of times, but Hermione hadn't wanted to talk. Not that she really wanted to talk to him now, but she was curious as to what had him in Draco's private library.

"Draco spoke to me yesterday," Voldemort announced as he perched on the seat opposite the sofa Hermione was curled up on. "He said you believe I'm your father."

"I can't deny the truth any longer, no matter how much I want to," Hermione replied honestly but icily.

"He also mentioned you don't like it," Voldemort muttered, sighing at his daughter's cold attitude towards him.

"I don't," Hermione agreed, still keeping the coldness in her voice as she could see it was affecting the dark wizard. "Without my memories, this is no longer my life."

"So Draco said," Voldemort said with another sigh. "He made some very valid points about what might happen if we keep going the way we are."

"You mean if you keep me a prisoner," Hermione snapped.

"I don't view you as a prisoner Hermione, but I can see how you might construe it that way," Voldemort said. "I'm not here to talk about your current situation, I'm here to talk about your future. As I said, Draco spoke to me and he told me about the request you made of him. I have to say, I was shocked by what he asked, and even though I could see it wasn't what he personally wanted, he was putting you first."

"What are you saying?" Hermione interrupted, not in the mood for Voldemort's ramblings.

"I'm saying that Draco got me to agree to your request," Voldemort clarified. "I will let you leave the manor on certain conditions."

"Conditions?" Hermione frowned, her elation dropping almost as quickly as it had risen at the word conditions.

"Yes Hermione, conditions," Voldemort chuckled. "Like it or not, you're my daughter, and I have no intention of letting you walk out of my life."

"So I won't be free, you're just trading in one prison for another," Hermione snorted.

"No, you will have a lot more freedom," Voldemort said. "We've got a couple of properties lined up for you to view. You merely pick which one you want, and then you move in."

"So what are these conditions?" Hermione asked. She suspected one of the traditions would involve fitting her with a tracking spell so that the dark could locate her whenever they wanted.

"First, if you want to move before you have the baby, someone goes with you," Voldemort replied. "That is non-negotiable," he added quickly when Hermione opened her mouth to argue. "I'm not risking you or my grandchild. If you leave, someone of your choosing can go with you."

"Fine," Hermione huffed. "But they leave once I've had the baby."

"Of course," Voldemort said with a nod. "Speaking of the baby, Draco said you've agreed to give him visitation rights. We want those rights settled in an unbreakable vow, or some sort of contract. Draco will have access to his child."

"I don't intend to cut my child off from its father," Hermione said. "So is that it? As long as I take an unbreakable vow to give Malfoy rights to the baby and take someone with me, I can leave?"

"My only other stipulation is that you allow us to place a tracking device on you," Voldemort said. "We almost lost you once, I won't take that risk again."

"Do it," Hermione said with a nod. It wasn't like she was going to run back to the Order, and to be honest it appeared as though she was going to get more freedom than she thought. Maybe she could even make a good life for her and her child and the dark wouldn't even bother them much at all.

"Do you have any requests?" Voldemort asked, surprising Hermione with his request.

"I just want some freedom," Hermione replied. "I want to come and go as I please and make a fresh start for my baby and myself. I've already promised I won't fight against you, but I also won't fight for you. I won't go back to the Order, and I won't have any contact with them. I just want to live my own life."

"And you can do just that, sweetheart," Voldemort said softly. Like Draco, it was breaking his heart to even think about letting Hermione go, but he knew it was for the best. "Think about who you want to go with you when you move and we can go and see the potential homes. Once you've picked somewhere it won't take us long to get you moved. All I want is for you to be happy Hermione, and if it means leaving the manor then so be it."

"Thank you," Hermione whispered, unable to hide her appreciation for the lovely thing both Voldemort and Draco had done for her. She may not love either of them, but she knew without a doubt that they loved her.

Voldemort smiled softly as he rose to his feet and excused himself, leaving Hermione to get used to the fact her days at Malfoy Manor were nearly over. Soon she would be in her own place, and she could finally start making plans for when she had the baby. Her kidnapping nightmare was nearly at an end, and for the first time in months Hermione could see a light at the end of her ordeal. In a matter of days she would be free again, and she couldn't wait.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three.**

Despite speaking up for Hermione and playing a part in allowing Voldemort to let her leave the manor, Draco wasn't at all happy as his girlfriend prepared to move. He'd fought Hermione's corner because he felt he was doing what was best for her, and what would give him the best chance of ever getting her back, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He hated the thought of her leaving, and as such avoided dealing with the subject as much as he could.

Draco had played no part in helping Hermione pick out where she wanted to live, although he wasn't too surprised when she took the cottage in Scotland, which was the property furthest away from the manor. Not that distance really mattered with wizards, but Draco knew she was sending a message that she wanted to be as far away from the manor, and everyone in it. Not that she'd gone yet, and as far as he knew the cottage was still being prepped for her move.

Although Draco suspected the real hold up in the move was Hermione herself. As eager as she was to be away from the manor, she was reluctant to name someone to go with her. Draco wasn't sure if she was hoping that by delaying long enough Voldemort would cave in and let her go alone, but he knew that would never happen. He knew that if Hermione didn't make a decision she wouldn't be leaving the manor.

Despite the fact he was secretly hoping Hermione would back down and chose to stay at the manor, Draco doubted it would happen and after a few days avoiding Hermione, he actively sought her out. He found her in the library with a book in her lap, although it was clear she wasn't reading. She was gazing into the distance and Draco could see she was deep in thought.

Sitting down opposite her, Draco was pleased when Hermione didn't immediately get up to leave. Since accepting the truth she'd been a lot more willing to talk to him, although she'd been very clear on the fact she had no feelings for him. In fact Draco was well aware that she'd played on his feelings for her to get him to speak to Voldemort for her, but he loved her and as painful as it had been to argue for her to leave the manor, he knew it was what she wanted and he wanted to prove to her that no matter what happened, he would always love her and put her first.

"For someone who's just gotten exactly what they want, you don't seem too happy," Draco remarked.

"I wouldn't say it's exactly what I want," Hermione retorted. Being allowed to leave the manor was progress, but it wasn't as if she was going to be completely free of the dark side. "But I know it's the best I can expect at this moment in time."

"But you're hoping for more in the future?" Draco questioned.

"Yes, I'm hoping that one day I will get my complete freedom," Hermione replied. "One day you lot will realise that you're never getting the old me back, and I'm hoping that when that day comes, you'll love me enough to really let me go."

"You're forgetting one thing, Hermione," Draco said quietly. "You're carrying my son. No matter what happens, we will always be connected and in each others lives."

"I know that," Hermione conceded. As much as part of her would love to run away with her child and never come back, she'd accepted that Draco was always going to be in their lives as the father of her child. "But that still doesn't mean I can't hope for freedom. Maybe we'll both get the chance to move on with our lives."

"There is no moving on for me," Draco replied with a rueful smile. "You're it for me, Hermione. Whether I get you back or not, I will always love you and no-one will take your place in my heart. I will never move on."

"Then you have my sympathy," Hermione said softly, trying not to show how affected she was by Draco's words. She knew he loved her, but at times like these when he showed just how deep his feelings ran, she had to work hard to keep the seeds of attraction she felt for him at bay.

"I don't want your sympathy, Hermione," Draco snorted. "I want you back to how you were. But since that's not going to happen any time soon, I'll have to make do with the fact you at least talk to me these days."

"It's seems childish to ignore you when I've admitted the truth," Hermione admitted with a shrug of her shoulder. "Whether I like it or not, you're a part of my life, and for the sake of our child I would rather we got along."

"And do you have that same stance with the rest of your family?" Draco asked. He knew full well that although Hermione spoke to him far more frequently, she was still frosty with Adele and she didn't even acknowledge Voldemort unless she had to.

"That's different," Hermione muttered. It had been much easier to accept Draco in her life, than to accept Voldemort as her father.

Draco didn't see why it was any different, but he didn't want to push Hermione so he remained quiet. Hermione also lapsed into silence and Draco was just beginning to think it was the end of their conversation, when his girlfriend let out a long sigh and admitted what was troubling her.

"I don't want to take anyone with me when I move," she confessed.

"I'm sure you don't, but it has to be done," Draco replied.

"Does it?" Hermione questioned as she leaned forward towards Draco. "Can't you speak to him again? You can convince him I don't need anyone with me. I can call the second I go into labour. And it's not like I'm going to run as he's got all sorts of spells to prevent that. He can track me in an instant, so why do I need babysitting?"

"Do you not think I've done enough for you?" Draco asked with a sigh, turning away from Hermione so he wouldn't be influenced by the look of hopelessness on her face. "I begged The Dark Lord to let you leave, even though it was the last thing I wanted. I got you the best deal I could, Hermione. He won't back down any further. If you want to leave the manor, you're going to have to take a chaperone with you."

"I don't know who to take," Hermione admitted in a whisper. "You're not an option, nor is Voldemort or your father. Your mother is nice enough, but I don't really feel comfortable taking her."

"That leaves Adele as the obvious choice," Draco pointed out.

"I guess so, but I really didn't want to take her," Hermione said with a sigh. "Every time she looks at me, I can feel her willing me to go back to how I used to be. I think taking her with me will give her false hope. She's not getting her daughter back, and it's unfair to let her think there's hope."

"That doesn't leave you with many options," Draco remarked.

"Tell me about it," Hermione said with a snort as she put down her book and rose to her feet. "I want to leave here," she whispered as she was headed over to the window and stopped to look outside, her hand resting on her ever expanding baby bump.

"What about someone more neutral," Draco suggested, hardly able to believe he was trying to help Hermione find a way to leave the manor.

"Like who?" Hermione asked with a shrug, turning her head so she could see Draco.

"Daphne," Draco replied.

"Daphne Greengrass?" Hermione questioned with a puzzled frown as she made her way back to where Draco was sitting.

"Yes, she's Theo's girlfriend and while her loyalties are to us, she doesn't have the dark mark and isn't an active part of the war," Draco explained. "And I know for a fact that she wouldn't hassle you or put any expectations on you. She didn't know about you until after the memory thing, so you've got no prior relationship other than the one you remember from school."

"But she's still your friend though," Hermione argued. "Is this your way of getting someone close to me who'll sing your praises in the hope that I'll fall for you again?"

"No, this is my way of trying to help you even though I hate the thought of you leaving," Draco replied. "It's only a suggestion, but I thought Daphne might be the ideal candidate. As I said, you've got no prior relationship to think about, she's our age so you'll have things in common, and she's someone I would trust to look after you and our unborn baby."

"Why would she agree to something like this though?" Hermione asked. "You'd be asking her to give up her life and move in with someone she barely knows."

"It's only for a few months," Draco replied with a shrug. "Besides, it's only a suggestion. I'd have to ask her first, and I'm assuming you would want to meet her properly before making any decisions."

"Okay, I'll meet her if she's agreeable," Hermione decided.

"I'll see what I can arrange," Draco promised as he got to his feet and headed towards the door.

"Draco," Hermione called softly, stopping Draco in the doorway. "Thank you," she offered with a smile when he turned back to look at her.

"You're welcome," Draco replied, a shadow of a smile ghosting over his lips as he came to terms with the fact that yet again he was helping Hermione distance herself from the people who loved her.

* * *

Hermione paced the floor nervously in the living room in Draco's wing of the manor as she waited for him to arrive with Daphne. Somehow he'd manged to get her to agree to move in with Hermione until the baby was born, providing that Hermione decided that it was what she wanted to do. In order to give the two witches a chance to get to know each other, Draco had arranged the meeting before they made any firm decisions. Hermione wasn't really nervous about meeting Daphne, she was more nervous about what would happen if she didn't like Daphne. If that happened she would either have to call off the move, or give in and allow Adele to go with her.

Draco's house elves had provided refreshments, and Hermione was so caught up in thinking about potentially getting away from the manor that she hadn't bother to complain about them. To be honest she had no idea if her views on house elves were genuine, or if it had merely been part of her muggleborn act. But either way, she had more important things to think about right now than house elves.

Hearing a noise behind her, Hermione whirled around in time to witness Draco entering the room with an attractive looking blonde witch. Hermione obviously knew Daphne from school, but she'd never really had much to do with the Slytherin and she'd never realised how attractive she was. There was an elegance about Daphne which immediately made Hermione feel dowdy and plain. Of course it didn't help that she was visibly pregnant and she was finding the pregnancy was starting to tire her out.

"Hermione, meet Daphne," Draco said, making the introductions.

"It's nice to meet you properly," Hermione said politely.

"I would say the same thing, but I'm not sure I'm meeting the real you," Daphne replied.

"You are meeting the real me," Hermione insisted. "Draco might not like it, or want to believe it, but this is me now. The old me is gone."

"Not gone, merely misplaced," Draco argued. "We're working on an antidote, Hermione. We will bring you back to your true self."

"So you say, but it might never happen," Hermione retorted. "You should just get used to the fact this is who I am now."

"Never," Draco said with a vehement shake of his head. Despite the fact Hermione was on the verge of leaving the manor, he wasn't going to give up hope of getting his girlfriend back to how she was before the Order interfered with her.

"Perhaps you should leave us, Draco," Daphne suggested, sensing that they were never going to get anywhere as long as Draco was around winding Hermione up. "The whole point of this meeting is to for Hermione and I to get to know each other, and we don't need you around for that."

"Even so, I think I should stay," Draco said.

"There's no need," Daphne said firmly. "Goodbye Draco."

"I'll be in the library if you need me," Draco grumbled as he left the room muttering under his breath.

"You need a firm hand to deal with him," Daphne said with a chuckle as she sat down. "He needs a strong witch to keep him in line."

"That's not me. Not anymore," Hermione said as she sat down on the sofa opposite Daphne, hoping that the other witch wasn't going to continually try and get her to see Draco in a romantic light. Not that she needed too much help in that department, but that was her secret and she wasn't going to admit anything like that to Daphne.

"So you have no feelings for Draco?" Daphne asked curiously.

"No," Hermione lied. "But he's not the reason we're here. Why would you agree to this, Daphne? You don't really know me."

"I don't, but I do know Draco, and I know all he wants is for you and the baby to be safe," Daphne replied. "I think it'll reassure him to have me around."

"But why would you put your life on hold to do this?" Hermione pressed. "I don't know what sort of rules Voldemort will give you, but I'm guessing he wants you with me as much as you can be. And what about your love life? I'm sorry, but I won't allow you to bring a Death Eater into my home."

"Theo can cope on his own for a while," Daphne replied with a light chuckle. "You've got what, two or three months before the baby is born?"

"A little under three months," Hermione confirmed.

"It's a matter of weeks really," Daphne said with a shrug. "I'm happy to help Draco and you out for a few weeks."

"What about your work?" Hermione asked. "Do you even work?"

"I design and make jewellery in the hopes of starting a business," Daphne explained. "At the minute I mainly make bits and pieces for friends, but I'm working on building up a collection. To be honest a couple of months in the countryside could be ideal to get my creative juices flowing."

As they continued to talk, Hermione found herself warming to Daphne. She didn't bring Draco up very often, and even though when he was mentioned it was clear Daphne thought a lot of him, she didn't try and push her opinions on Hermione. She also took an interest in Hermione and the baby, and she never once passed judgement on the fact she was walking away from the father of her child.

"I think this will work just fine," Hermione announced an hour later. "If you're still willing Daphne, I'd like to take you up on your offer to come and live with me. I think it will be nice to have someone around before I have the baby."

"My offer still stands, and you never know you might want to stay friends after you've had the baby," Daphne said. "I know Draco is my friend, but I don't see why I can't be friends with you as well."

"I think I would like that," Hermione said with a smile.

It would certainly be nice to have a real friend as given the situation she was in she felt as though no-one had genuinely been her friend for a long time. The Order had just been pretending to be her friend, and before that she'd been the one pretending. And as for Draco, his feelings towards her weren't really of the friendly nature, and the feelings he did have for her were aimed towards the witch he remembered. So it might be nice for her to have a friend who was willing to get to know the person Hermione was right at this moment in time.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four.**

Following Hermione's departure from the manor, Draco threw himself into helping destroy the Order. After the initial article in the paper with Bill Weasley, Voldemort made sure The Daily Prophet ran regular stories about Dumbledore, reminding people what he was capable of. The result was a mass protest from parents of students at Hogwarts and currently there was an official investigation going on at the Ministry. According to Lucius sources, Dumbledore was going to need a miracle if he was going to avoid losing his job as headmaster.

As for the rest of the Order, they were rumoured to still be fighting among themselves, and the Death Eaters were taking every opportunity to increase the pressure on them. Every fight seemed to whittle their numbers and Draco's only complaint was that every time he was in a battle he didn't see either Potter or Weasley. The pair had gone to ground once the dark had snatched Hermione back before Christmas, and since the revelations about what they'd done to her they'd been seen even less. Although Draco knew from Severus that Weasley was even keeping a low profile around the Order as he was quite rightly still thought of as a rapist by most people.

Draco knew they needed a plan to lure the pair out of hiding, so he'd gone to see Voldemort to discuss the matter. He knew The Dark Lord had his Horcrux problem with Harry, so he wasn't sure how keen he would be to try and get hold of him, but Draco needed to get hold of Ron. The desire to hurt the redhead had been burning ever since they discovered what he'd done to Hermione, but now Hermione had left the manor, all Draco could think about was gaining a very painful revenge on Ron.

"Ah Draco, just the man," Voldemort greeted when Draco entered his study. "I've got good news."

"About Hermione?" Draco asked expectantly. "Do we have a cure?"

"Sadly not," Voldemort replied, wincing slightly as the hope faded from Draco's grey eyes. "It will happen, Draco. We will get Hermione back."

"I know, I just wish we didn't have to wait so long," Draco said with a sigh. "So what is your good news?"

"I think I may have the answer to my Potter problem," Voldemort announced as he and Draco sat down to talk. "My research has led me to a wizard in China named Shang. Rumour has it he himself has Horcruxes and he's lived for centuries. If anyone can solve our problem, he can."

"That's great," Draco replied. "When are you going to see him?"

"I can't leave right now," Voldemort said regretfully. "I need to keep the pressure up on the Order. They're close to breaking, and I need to be here to take advantage if they do break. I was hoping you could go and visit Shang for me."

"Even with magic, a trip to China will take weeks," Draco said. "I don't want to miss Hermione giving birth."

"You'll be back in plenty of time," Voldemort reassured the young wizard. "Please Draco, with this information we can finally focus on getting rid of Potter once and for all."

"And the Weasel," Draco growled. "No matter what happens, he's mine. I want to make him suffer before he dies."

"I've already spread the word that Weasley is to be captured and not killed," Voldemort said. He himself wouldn't mind a piece of the wizard who had violated his daughter, but he knew Draco's anger was just as potent and he knew that left in Draco's hands the redhead would suffer a fate worse than death. "Don't worry Draco, you won't miss the fun. You go off to China and I'll work on capturing you a Weasel."

Draco smirked at the idea of returning home to find Ron had been caught and was being held captive at the manor, just waiting for retribution. Mentally working out how long he had before Hermione had the baby, he agreed to the trip. As long as he left as soon as possible he should be able to do as Voldemort wanted and still be home before Hermione gave birth to their son.

"Here's all the information I have on him," Voldemort offered, sliding a beige file across the desk. "Good luck, Draco."

Taking the file, Draco returned home where he spent an hour going over the information Voldemort had provided him with. He then made arrangements for a trip to China, but before he could go he had to go and see Hermione. He hadn't visited Hermione since she'd moved out the previous week, but he knew exactly where she was and because she was living at a Malfoy property he was able to apparate directly into the back garden of the cottage in Scotland.

As luck would have it, Hermione was in the garden and although she gave Draco an annoyed glare, she didn't tell him to get lost. Even though he'd only seen her a week ago, Draco took a few minutes to study Hermione. Her pregnancy was coming along nicely and she seemed even bigger than when he'd last seen her. However, it was the relaxed and happy glow that radiated from her that struck Draco. For the first time since she'd come back to the dark, she was happy, and it broke Draco's heart to know it was because she was away from him and the manor.

"Sorry to just drop by unannounced, but I have to go away for a few weeks and I wanted to let you know," Draco said.

"Why would I need to know that?" Hermione asked with a shrug, trying her best not to stare at Draco. She was hoping that distance would help cure her of her growing feelings towards him, but instead she was annoyed to find she missed him and even though she'd acted unhappy by his unexpected visit, she was secretly thrilled to see him again.

"I just didn't want you to think I'd forgotten about you," Draco replied quietly. "However, if you need me, just ask and I'll come back as soon as I can. Your father knows how to get hold of me."

"I doubt I'll be needing you," Hermione said. "The baby isn't due for another couple of months."

"I know, but you never know what's going to happen," Draco said. "I just didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, unable to help herself from asking the question.

"China," Draco answered. "Your father wants some information, and he's too busy to go himself."

"Too busy doing what? Driving Dumbledore out of a job?" Hermione asked with a snort. "Honestly, what does he hope that will achieve? Dumbledore won't just give in because you've managed to take his job off him."

"Surely you don't think he should be allowed to carry on as headmaster," Draco said. "Not after what he did to you. He can't be trusted, Hermione."

"I doubt he's going to pull the same trick again, unless I have siblings I don't know about," Hermione retorted.

"You don't have any siblings," Draco replied with a small smile. "And it's not about stopping Dumbledore doing the same thing to someone else, it's about destroying him and his reputation. It's about showing the wizarding world that he's not the great hero he likes to think he is."

"And it's about shaking the Order," Hermione said. "You're hoping to destabilise them enough so you can take them out."

"That is our final goal," Draco confirmed. "But you shouldn't be worrying about such things. You should be relaxing. I take it you're settling in nicely, and Daphne is taking good care of you."

"Daphne and I are getting along just fine, and the house is perfect," Hermione replied. "I'm sure the baby and I are going to be extremely happy here."

"I'm sure you will," Draco whispered sadly. Shaking his head to ward off the melancholy, he quickly said his goodbyes and left Hermione to enjoy the rest of her day while he got ready for a trip to the Far East.

* * *

The information Voldemort had provided Draco with proved helpful once in China and it only took him a few days to track down the wizard Voldemort wanted him to talk to. However, getting him to agree to a meeting wasn't easy and Draco spent a week persuading Shang to talk to him. Finally his persistence paid off though, and Draco met the wizard in a tea pagoda in the grounds of his lovely house.

Upon meeting Shang, Draco could well believe the wizard had lived for centuries. He had a long white beard and long white hair and walked stopped over with a cane. However, when he took Draco's hand in his to shake it, he had a firm grip and when he looked up at Draco with his clear blue eyes, they sparkled with knowledge and alertness. His body made have looked old, but his mind certainly wasn't and Draco knew he was dealing with a smart wizard.

"Please sit," Shang said, gesturing to one of the cushions seated around a low table.

Draco watched as Shang effortlessly settled himself crossed legged on the cushion opposite. Draco mirrored the Chinese wizard's pose and waited until Shang had poured them both a cup of tea from the ornate pot in the centre of the table, before mentioning the reason for his visit.

"I know you don't come for yourself," Shang said, scrutinising Draco. "I can see your soul is still whole, and I don't think you intend to make Horcruxes for yourself."

"No, I don't," Draco replied. He could understand why Voldemort had done so, and if he hadn't he would have been killed long ago, but it wasn't a path he was going to take for himself. "I've come on behalf of a wizard you may have heard of – Lord Voldemort."

"I've heard of him," Shang replied with a nod. "Most of our kind have heard of him. He's got quite the reputation."

"He does," Draco agreed. "Does that bother you?"

"It would be hypocritical of me to judge him for killing when I myself have done the same," Shang said with an elegant shrug. "Although I can't claim to have taken as many lives as your master. So tell me young dragon, what do you want from me?"

"We have a problem," Draco said. "One of The Dark Lord's Horcruxes was made accidentally, and it's currently residing in another wizard. The Dark Lord wants to remove the Horcrux so he can kill this wizard without harming himself."

"Ah, the dangers of making living entities Horcruxes," Shang said with a low chuckle. "There's a reason it's not advised to use living vessels as Horcruxes."

"Why?"

"Horcruxes are notoriously heard to destroy. Only certain things can do the job, and it takes someone of great courage to be able to do it," Shang explained. "However a living vessel has all the frailties of everything that lives. If the vessel dies, the Horcruxes dies with it."

"But is there a way to remove the Horcrux without destroying it?" Draco asked.

"No," Shang answered bluntly. "It's impossible. Your Lord Voldemort had a choice to make. He either destroys his Horcrux to destroy his enemy, or to preserve his own life he lets his enemy live. There is no other option."

"Are you sure?" Draco pressed, not really wanting to go back to Voldemort with such news.

"I'm sure," Shang answered with a nod. "What your master seeks cannot be done. He will have to make the choice. But be warned, it still might not be that simple."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked as he leaned forward, eager to hear everything the Chinese wizard had to say.

"There's not much known about living vessels being used as Horcruxes, but there is precedent for great disaster," Shang said. "In my youth, before I made my own Horcrux, I heard stories of a wizard who'd used his twin as his Horcrux. All was well until the twins fell out and in a fit of anger the wizard killed his sibling, therefore destroying the Horcrux. However, his twin rose from the dead and killed his brother."

"How is that possible?" Draco questioned with a frown.

"The wizard merely killed the Horcrux living inside his twin," Shang explained. "The twin recounted the story many years later and according to him after his brother had killed him, he found himself in a state of limbo. He was given a choice, he could either move on, or return to his life. He chose to return and he sought vengeance on his killer."

"So if The Dark Lord kills Potter and destroys the Horcrux, there's a chance Potter could rise again?" Draco checked.

"Yes, if he's strong willed enough, he could rise again," Shang answered. "However, he will just be mortal at that point. The wizard in my story was killed by his brother as he was taken by surprise by his return. If he'd been prepared for his return, who knows what might have happened."

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," Draco said thoughtfully.

The news he was going to take back to Voldemort was hardly great, but it could be worse. At least if Voldemort chose to sacrifice the Horcrux in Harry, they would be prepared for his resurrection. It might not have been the answer Voldemort was looking for, but at least now he would know how to deal with his Horcrux problem. He would either have to capture Harry and keep him prisoner for the rest of his life, or sacrifice a part of his soul to rid himself of his greatest enemy and finally win the war.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five.**

While Draco was off in China, Hermione was adjusting to her new found sense of freedom. Not that it was total freedom by any stretch of the imagination, but it was more than she'd had for several months at the manor. In fact, Hermione was seriously thinking about settling down in the small village in Scotland she was currently living in once the baby was born. Even though her initial plan had been to flee the second she was able, she'd accepted that it really wasn't an option. Since she was having Draco's child it would be easy for the dark to find her via her baby, but more importantly it wasn't fair on Draco to run off with his son.

Over the course of her time with the dark, Hermione's feelings for Draco had changed a great deal. Initially she'd hated him and had been repulsed by the idea of being involved with him. But then as the truth started to dawn on her she'd seen a different side to Draco and decided that he wasn't all bad. Slowly her old feelings had been trying to emerge, but Hermione had pushed them back down because she knew they had no future together the way she was now. It didn't matter that she was attracted to him, she couldn't condone his allegiance to Voldemort, and there was no way she could give her heart to a wizard who was fighting for the dark.

Although that wasn't to say Hermione had dealt with her feelings for him, because she hadn't. If anything they were growing stronger since leaving the manor and she often found herself wondering what Draco was doing. The day he'd visited to let her know he was going away for a while, Hermione had been thrilled to see him, and although she'd hidden it and acted nonplussed, she hadn't been happy with the idea of him going away. In fact, every day she missed him and wondered how he was getting on or if he would be back soon.

Of course since Daphne was living with her, she could always ask if the other witch had heard anything. Daphne still spoke to Theo regularly and they exchanged plenty of letters, so there was a chance she might know something about Draco. However, Hermione hadn't confided in Daphne about her feelings for Draco and she knew it was something she wouldn't be doing. She would keep her feelings to herself and refuse to let them blossom into anything more powerful.

Refusing to spend all her time thinking about Draco, Hermione had been exploring the nearby village. Most people were friendly and the few odd looks she received told her that people knew exactly who she was, but no-one was openly hostile towards her so she was happy. She'd also been spending a lot of time in the garden, even though it was still early in the year and quite chilly. And finally she'd been preparing the nursery for when she gave birth.

A week after Draco had visited her, Hermione spent her morning in the library and when she headed downstairs for some lunch she found Daphne working at the kitchen table. In the couple of weeks they'd been living together, Hermione had come to really like Daphne and the pair got along splendidly. Daphne never pushed her about her true identity or giving Draco another chance, she seemed to accept that this was who Hermione was now.

"I can take my work somewhere else if you want the table," Daphne offered as Hermione entered the room.

"No, you stay where you are, I'm just grabbing a sandwich," Hermione replied. "Can I get you anything?"

"How about I make some sandwiches and you sit down and rest," Daphne suggested as she got to her feet and expertly guided Hermione into a chair at the table.

Hermione wanted to argue, but the truth was she was starting to tire easily and it felt good to settle down and let Daphne wait on her. While Daphne made the sandwiches, Hermione picked up a couple of the papers Daphne was working on and found some incredible sketches of jewellery. One page showed a glittering apple shaped necklace, while the other showed a detailed peacock brooch.

"Daphne these are stunning," Hermione remarked as Daphne sat back down and placed a plate of sandwiches on the table along with two glasses of juice.

"Thank you," Daphne replied with a smile. "Both of them will hopefully one day form part of a collection. Fruit necklaces and bird brooches."

"How many of these designs have you actually made?" Hermione asked, looking at some of the other sketches.

"Not many," Daphne said with a sigh. "This portfolio is mainly my designs for the future. I'm trying to build it up so I can get some financing to start my own business. I've got my inheritance, but that's not quite enough to get me set up."

"Anyone with money should jump at the chance to back you," Hermione said. "These designs are gorgeous. I love how everything is unique."

"That's the idea, every piece is bespoke and there's not another one exactly like it," Daphne said enthusiastically. "Take the apple necklace for example, I could make half a dozen in different colours and they would all be unique."

"I'd buy one," Hermione said as she continued to look through Daphne's designs. "Wow, I like this necklace," she said, pointing to a design of a unicorn with the most dazzling multi-coloured horn, made of tiny little coloured stones.

"I think I want to make that one for Astoria," Daphne said. "It's her seventeenth birthday soon and she's always loved unicorns. I've got most of the materials, now I just have to make it."

"Is it hard?" Hermione asked. She wasn't really a creative person herself, and she envied Daphne for being able to make something so beautiful out of stones and metal.

"It can be quite tricky, but then I am a perfectionist," Daphne said with a laugh. "I would never dream of giving anyone a piece of jewellery that wasn't perfect."

"What about designs? Are they hard to think up?"

"No, they're really easy. I have more ideas in my head then I can sketch. I could come up with an endless supply of designs."

"I suppose that will come in handy if you're wanting to go into business," Hermione remarked. "You don't want to run out of designs."

"I don't think there's much chance of that happening," Daphne said with a laugh. "How about you, Hermione? Are you planning on doing something once you've had the baby?"

"I've never really thought about it," Hermione admitted with a frown. She knew she'd been doing a law course at the Ministry before she'd been kidnapped and brought back to the dark, but she wasn't sure if it had been what she genuinely wanted to do with her life or if it had been a ploy to remain close to the Order.

"Maybe you should be my backer," Daphne joked. "I can be the creative designer and you can handle the business."

Hermione laughed lightly and smiled at Daphne's joke, but her mind began to think about the future. She'd been so focused on leaving the manor and gaining her freedom that she hadn't thought about what she was going do with her life. She knew Daphne wasn't serious, but maybe she'd found the perfect solution. What was to stop her going into business with Daphne? It was certainly something she could fit around being a mother, and it would give her an income for her and her baby. Right now Voldemort and the Malfoys were supporting her, but she didn't want it to be that way forever. Sooner or later she was going to have to stand on her own two feet, and partnering up with Daphne might be just the way to do that.

* * *

With Draco off in China, helping him out, Voldemort was determined to do the same for the young wizard he still hoped would become his son-in-law one day. He knew what Draco really wanted was Ron Weasley, and by chance he happened to mention it to Lucius and Severus when he was checking on how they were coming on with their antidote for Hermione's memories. However, what he didn't expect was for Severus to give him some useful information that could possibly give them a chance to lure the Weasley boy into a trap.

Severus told Voldemort that during a recent visit to Order Headquarters, he'd overheard Harry and Ron talking about Ginny and the fact she wasn't replying to their letters. Ginny had been as shocked as anyone over Christmas when the truth came out about Hermione, and she hadn't hidden her disgust with Ron and what he'd done to Hermione. Looking at the bigger picture she'd tried to accept what had happened and focus on fighting the dark, but things had still been frosty when she'd returned to school.

"Is it possible to use the Weasley girl to our advantage?" Lucius asked.

"That was just what I was thinking," Voldemort mused. "Severus, how hard would you find it to fake a letter from her and send it to her brother?"

"I've got enough samples of her work to make forging a letter very easy," Severus said. "But the letter would have to be for Potter as well. She wouldn't just write to her brother and miss him out. Especially not the way things stand. If anything, I'd say she was more likely to write to Potter and ignore her brother. I know she was pretty disgusted with everything that had happened, and her brother is the focus of her disgust."

"Even so, we have to try. All that really matters is that we get a letter to Ron Weasley luring him to a place of our choosing," Voldemort said.

"If the letter is supposed to be from his sister, it'll have to be Hogsmeade," Severus said. "It's the only place she has access to."

"Hogsmeade will work just fine," Voldemort replied. "Is there an upcoming weekend at the village?"

"This weekend actually," Severus said. "It's been organised quickly to try and empty the castle so the staff can have a meeting. It's been decided that until his formal hearing is completed, Dumbledore is stepping down as head."

"And he'll never get a chance to take the position back up, because he's going to be dead," Voldemort hissed vehemently. "But back to the Weasleys. Severus, get a letter to the boy asking him to meet his sister behind The Hog's Head on Saturday afternoon. If you have to, make it sound as if she's ready to forgive him for violating my daughter. Lucius, you can be waiting with Bellatrix. I want the boy brought back to the manor as a gift for Draco when he returns."

"And Potter?" Severus asked.

"I can keep Potter away," Voldemort said with a smirk. "Come Saturday, Harry Potter is going to be stuck in bed with a terrible headache. It's about time I used this pesky connection of ours to cause him some pain."

"And what if the Weasley boy doesn't show?" Lucius asked.

"It's a chance we're going to have to take," Voldemort replied with a shrug. "Hopefully he'll turn up if Severus words the letter just right. We don't want a response, or else the girl might get suspicious, but we want enough lure so that he chooses to attend the meeting without Potter."

"I can do that," Severus said, already mentally running over what he would write to lure Ron into a trap. After that all they could do was wait and see if he walked into it.

* * *

"You need to go Ron," Harry urged Ron as he lay in a dark room, his head feeling as though it was about to explode.

After weeks of writing to Ginny, they'd finally gotten a response from Ron's little sister, and she'd asked to meet them in Hogsmeade. Ginny had apologised for her attitude and she promised to really try and understand why they took such drastic action with Hermione. She'd even apologised for calling Ron a rapist and promised to listen to his side of things for the first time. She'd requested the meeting so that they could talk and get everything back on track before she finished school and she was back with the Order for good.

Harry, and especially Ron, who had been struggling with his little sister thinking the worst of him, had been delighted by the invitation and they were determined to get Ginny firmly on their side. Since Christmas the Order had been in a bit of a state and as such the dark had managed to kill a few of them. Harry and Ron knew that if they really wanted to defeat Voldemort and the dark they needed to stand together, and they needed Ginny to be completely and utterly on their side.

However, now the day of the meeting had arrived and Harry was suffering from the worst headache of his life. His scar was also burning, so they were fairly sure the headache was a result of something Voldemort was doing. They were just hoping that wherever he was, The Dark Lord was in as much pain as Harry was.

"I feel bad leaving you," Ron said. "What if your scar is hurting because You-Know-Who is nearby waiting to strike?"

"Even if he is nearby, he can't get into Grimmauld Place," Harry pointed out. "I'll be fine, you go and talk to Ginny. We need her on our side. The way the Order is falling and tearing itself apart, it might just come down to us youngsters and we can't afford to lose Ginny. Besides, I know how much it means to you to have her forgive you. It's killing you, having her think of you in such a terrible way."

"I'll be as quick as I can," Ron promised in a distracted whisper, his mind temporarily elsewhere.

Ron didn't like to dwell on the accusations Ginny, the twins and several other members of the Order had made against him. Rape was a thoroughly despicable, unforgivable thing, and until the accusation had been hurled at him, he honestly hadn't thought he was doing anything wrong. However, he could now see why people thought the worst of him and he felt sick whenever he thought of the times he'd been with Hermione, all the time knowing that if it hadn't been for the potion, she wouldn't have let him near her.

"Don't rush, take as long as you need," Harry said, jarring Ron back to the present as he burrowed deeper into the blankets. "I'll be right here when you get back."

Making sure there was nothing else Harry needed, Ron left the bedroom and departing Grimmauld Place he headed for Hogsmeade. Just being in the streets brought back happy memories of his time at Hogwarts, but then a certain memory would feature Hermione and he would be hit with her betrayal yet again. Even though there was a slim chance she was carrying his baby, Ron secretly hoped he never saw her again. Now the truth was out, he wanted nothing to do with her and his fervent hope was that everything the dark had claimed in the papers was true and that she was carrying Malfoy's son. Besides, it was easier to deal with what he'd done by reminding himself that Hermione was the enemy and if he was lucky he would never have to face her again.

With dark thoughts starting to enter his head, Ron made his way towards The Hog's Head. He would have rather met with Ginny in The Three Broomsticks so they could have a drink, but he could understand his sister wanting to talk somewhere more private. After all, they didn't want people listening to the conversation as Ron didn't know who could be trusted, and who would run off to Voldemort if they head something of interest. And of course until he met up with Ginny, he didn't quite know how accommodating she was going to be, and the last thing he wanted was for her to cause a scene and call him a rapist in public.

"Ginny," Ron called quietly as he entered the dark alleyway behind the rundown pub at the far side of the village.

Not seeing anyone, he ventured further into the darkness. Hearing a noise behind him, he pulled out his wand and whirled back to face the way he came. When he saw a feminine figure in the shadows, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Damn it Gin, you gave me a right fright," he muttered, tucking his wand away again.

"I do like to scare nasty little Weasels," the figure called in a sing-song voice as she stepped closer to Ron so he could see that she wasn't his little sister.

Instead of standing in front of Ginny, Ron found himself facing Bellatrix Lestrange. Pulling his wand from his pocket, he raised it in front of him as he took a few steps backwards. However, his progress was soon cut short as he bumped into someone and backing himself against the alley wall, he found Lucius Malfoy was blocking the other side of the alleyway.

"Look here Bella, we've trapped ourselves a Weasel," Lucius chuckled darkly.

"How perfect," Bellatrix purred, reaching out and running a finger down Ron's face. "Can I play with him, Lucius?"

"Get off me you mad bint," Ron snarled, pushing Bellatrix's hand away from his face.

"Temper, temper, Weasel," Lucius tutted. "And I'm sorry Bella, but you'll have to wait your turn with this one. Draco has first dibs on him."

"As it should be given what this monster did to Hermione," Bellatrix snarled. "If it was up to me, I'd castrate him."

Ron shivered nervously at the pair's words and he knew that he couldn't possibly allow them to take him. The second he was captured, he was a dead man walking. If he allowed himself to be taken by the two Death Eaters he would be in for a whole world of pain, and he knew that when it came, death would be a release. However, he didn't know how he was going to escape since Bellatrix and Lucius had remained on either side of him and to get away he needed to pass one of them. Unless of course he could apparate from the spot without either of them grabbing him and travelling with him.

"Don't even think about it," Lucius snarled, yanking Ron's wand from his fingers when he spotted the redhead trying to subtly pull it out of his pocket. "If you want to escape you're going to have to run for it."

"Okay then," Ron said, pushing himself away from the wall and barrelling past an unprepared Bellatrix.

Sprinting up the alley, Ron could see people passing by and just as he opened his mouth to call for help, he was hit in the square of his back with a spell and went tumbling to the ground. Before he could even register that he'd been stunned, Lucius was hauling him to his feet and the last thing he remembered was the blond wizard smirking wickedly at him before he hit him with a spell to knock him out completely. An unconscious Ron was then whisked away from Hogsmeade to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, which would be his home until his very painful death.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six.**

Harry warily opened his eyes and was relieved when the blinding pain that had been afflicting him all day had gone. He still had a dull headache, but at least he could pull himself out of bed. Hoping that Ron was back and had news of Ginny, Harry visited the bathroom before heading downstairs at Grimmauld Place. Thankfully the place was quiet with just Sirius in residence.

"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked Harry when he spotted his godson.

"Better," Harry answered. "Has Ron been back?"

"No, were you expecting him?" Sirius asked. Since Hermione had been taken by the dark, Ron had been practically living with him and Harry while the flat he'd been living in with Hermione was empty.

"I was," Harry said as he sat down next to Sirius. "He went to Hogsmeade to see Ginny."

"Talking to you again, is she?" Sirius asked with a slight smile.

Revelations over Christmas had left things tense within the Order, and when she'd returned to school, Ginny had still been struggling to come to terms with the drastic steps that had been taken in order to nullify the threat Hermione presented. She'd been especially off with Ron and Harry, and it was clear to everyone that she couldn't get past Ron sleeping with Hermione while she'd been under the influence of the potion.

"Hopefully," Harry replied. "I would have liked to have been there as well, but I was just too bad this morning."

"And you're feeling better now?" Sirius checked.

"Much," Harry confirmed. "My head is still aching, but it's more of a residual pain now. Although hopefully it will get much better when Ron returns."

"I would have thought he would have been back if he just went to Hogsmeade," Sirius remarked, checking the time with a frown. "By now Ginny will be back at school."

"You're right, she will," Harry said in concern as he also checked the time and realised that Ron had been gone for hours. "I've got a bad feeling about this, Sirius."

"You don't think it could have been a trap, do you?" Sirius asked in concern.

"You think Ginny has turned and lured Ron into a trap?" Harry questioned, shaking his head slightly at the notion. "I know she wasn't happy about how we handled Hermione, but she would never turn on us. She knows how important it is for us all to stick together."

"How sure are you that the letter came from Ginny?" Sirius asked.

"It was her handwriting, I'm sure it was," Harry answered. "Maybe we're just worrying over nothing. Ron could be on his way back right now."

"Let's hope you're right," Sirius muttered. "But just in case, why don't I pop to The Burrow and check that none of Ron's family have seen him."

Harry nodded and waited impatiently for Sirius to check on Ron. By the time his godfather returned there was still no sign of Ron and Harry's worry was starting to deepen. A trip to Hogsmeade was then the order of the day, but Harry and Sirius could find no sign of Ron in the small village. By the time they returned to Grimmauld Place they knew it was time to call in reinforcements so Sirius gathered the main branch of the Order while Harry tried to work out what might have happened to Ron.

Dumbledore was the last of the Order to arrive, and Harry noted he was looking weary. No doubt the weight of his upcoming hearing and having to leave Hogwarts behind was starting to have an effect on the old wizard. As the Order settled around the kitchen table, Harry could feel the tension and he cursed Hermione for causing all the trouble. It didn't matter what they'd done to her, the simple fact was if she hadn't been lying to them in the first place, none of this would be happening. She'd broken the Order and the annoying thing was, she hadn't even done it deliberately.

"What's going on? Where's Ron?" Molly demanded.

"Ron's the reason I called this meeting," Harry said. "He's missing."

"Missing," Arthur repeated in a shocked voice as beside him, Molly began to tear up. "How can he be missing?"

"He went to Hogsmeade to meet Ginny this afternoon, and he hasn't returned," Harry answered, passing the letter he and Ron had received off Ginny around the group.

"Why weren't you with him?" Charlie asked Harry as he read the letter which was obviously an invitation to both boys.

"I had a terrible headache earlier," Harry admitted. "I was in no fit state to go anywhere."

"Convenient," McGonagall said thoughtfully.

"I wasn't faking," Harry snarled, taking his former Professors words as a slight against him.

"I wasn't suggesting you were," McGonagall replied, slightly taken aback by the venom in Harry's voice. "I'm saying it was convenient that on the day you were due to meet Ginny, you were taken ill and were unable to attend, leaving Ron to go alone. It all seems fishy to me."

"You mean like a trap?" Molly gasped.

"I mean exactly like a trap," McGonagall said with a nod of her head. "If I were a betting woman, which I'm not, I'd wager that this entire ruse was a way to get hold of Ron."

"Then he's dead," Molly wailed as she flung her arms around Arthur. "First Bill and now Ron."

"We have no reason to believe either Bill or Ron are dead," Dumbledore said, speaking for the first time. "All our detection spells on Bill seem to show he's still alive."

"But you can't deny that if the dark have Ron, he's in more trouble than Bill," Charlie said softly, not wanting to upset his mother further but knowing that not speaking about the danger his brother was in was pointless. "Everything that's happened recently has been about Hermione, and Ron was closer than most to her."

"Charlie's right, if the dark have Ron, he's in serious trouble," Harry said urgently. "I can't imagine Malfoy being happy with the fact Ron was living with Hermione before the dark snatched her."

"Or anything else that happened to her," McGonagall remarked sharply. Like the vast majority of the Order she viewed Ron's actions as rape, and the others involved as condoning such a despicable act, and the only reason she was still involved with the Order was because of the ongoing war effort and her inability to just sit back and let Voldemort and the dark take control of the wizarding world.

"First we need to establish if Ron has been taken, or if we're worrying over nothing," Dumbledore said quickly, trying to avert an argument as he knew most people shared the Transfiguration Professors views. "Minerva, I'm going to need your help. We need to speak to Ginny to see if she sent the letter, but we need a search of the area surrounding Hogsmeade. There is a chance Ron has just had an accident, and he's lying somewhere waiting for rescue."

"And what if the dark do have him, what then?" Molly asked through her tears. "We couldn't get Bill back, or Hermione. If the dark have my son, he's lost to us."

"You have to have faith, Molly," Dumbledore said. "Until this war is over we can't write off anyone. We might find Ron and Bill have been kept as prisoners all this time. We can't lost hope."

"It's too late for that," Molly whispered as she staggered to her feet and fled the room, the sound of her harsh sobs lingering behind her.

Everyone truly felt sorry for Molly, but they didn't have time to stand around and follow her lead. They had things to do, and they all jumped to it, hoping that despite the odds they could find Ron and everything could return to how it had been that morning.

Sadly, the rest of the day ran exactly as they had feared. Ginny confirmed that she hadn't written any letter to Harry and Ron, in fact she hadn't even been down in Hogsmeade that day. As for Ron there was no sign of him around Hogsmeade, and by midnight the Order had come to the conclusion that they'd been tricked and that the dark now had possession of Ron Weasley. Now all they could do was hope that Ron could hang on and give them a chance to beat Voldemort and banish his Death Eaters for good.

* * *

When Draco returned from China, his overwhelming urge was to head straight off to check on Hermione. However, he curbed his impulse as he knew it wouldn't help his relationship with her if he seemed too overprotective. He soothed himself by knowing that someone would have been in touch with him if there'd been any problems while he was away, and it was still several weeks before she was due to give birth. Besides, he'd gone to China on a mission for Voldemort, and he had news for The Dark Lord which needed delivering.

Deciding to wait until the following day to visit Hermione, Draco freshened up after his trip and let his parents know he was home. Narcissa confirmed that Hermione was fine and that there was no need to worry about her or the baby. Lucius informed Draco that Voldemort was hoping that he would be back today, and just to send a message when he did return and he would be right over.

Five minutes later Draco and Lucius were settled in Lucius's study with Voldemort. Voldemort had insisted that Lucius stayed to hear what Draco had discovered, but before they got down to business Voldemort also reassured Draco that Hermione was doing just fine. He himself hadn't seen her, but Adele visited their daughter regularly and even though Hermione was still not letting herself get close to her family, she was seemingly doing just fine with Daphne for company.

"And what about your trip?" Voldemort asked eagerly. "Was it useful?"

"Yes, it was a useful trip," Draco answered. "But it isn't good news," he cautioned when Voldemort began to smirk.

"Not good news?" Voldemort's smirk dropped into a frown and his eyes flashed in annoyance.

"Sorry," Draco apologised, even though he was merely the bearer of the news rather than the source of it. "I spoke to Shang at length, and he was quite the expert. He assured me that there is no safe way to remove the Horcrux from Potter. You kill Potter, you destroy the Horcrux."

"So I'll have to sacrifice one of my Horcruxes to take Potter out," Voldemort said with a sigh. It wasn't good news, but to be honest it was something he'd been preparing himself for.

"Do we have to go down that route?" Lucius asked. "Can't we just keep Potter a prisoner? He's no threat to us if he's under our control."

"No matter where he is, he's a beacon of hope," Voldemort said. "As long as he lives, those who are against us will have hope. Even if he's our prisoner, people will believe that one day he might escape and save them all. Potter has to be destroyed, it's the only way to gain complete and utter power."

"There is another thing to watch out for," Draco said. "Shang told me an old story of two brothers. One was a Horcrux for the other one, and when they fell out the one with the Horcrux inside him was killed by his brother. However, he was given a second chance of life and he returned and killed his brother. Killing Potter will destroy the Horcrux, but it might not destroy Potter at first. Shang said it's no guarantee that he'll return, but he'll be given the choice."

"And he'll chose to come back," Lucius said. "I can't stand the boy, but he's not exactly a coward. He'll chose to fight on."

"But if that happened, we'd be ready for him," Draco said. "He won't have the element of surprise. If Potter rises from the dead, we can be ready to take him out a second time."

"And with no Horcrux to protect him, he'll be gone for good the second time," Voldemort said. "Thank you Draco, you may very well have won this war for us."

"I take it this means you're going to sacrifice your Horcrux," Draco remarked.

"Needs must I'm afraid," Voldemort said with a reluctant sigh. "Fortunately, I've got my other Horcruxes in a safe place the Order will never find them. I think it's time we started to plan for the end of this blasted war. We've delayed long enough already, and Hermione has been the one to pay the price. But enough is enough, it's time to end this."

"Shall I rally the Death Eaters?" Lucius asked.

"Not just yet," Voldemort said. "For now, I think we should give Draco his present."

"Present? What present?" Draco frowned, looking between his father and Voldemort, both of whom were smirking widely.

"Come with us," Voldemort said as he got to his feet.

Well and truly baffled, Draco followed The Dark Lord and Lucius out of his father's study. It wasn't until they headed down to the dungeons that he began to get an inkling of what was waiting for him. However, he didn't want to get his hopes up and he didn't let his mind dwell on the wizard he so desperately wanted to see in the dungeons. Instead he braced himself to come face to face with any prisoner imaginable as Voldemort pulled open one of the cell doors.

"After you, Draco," Voldemort said, gesturing for the blond wizard to lead the way into the cell.

Holding his breath, Draco stepped into the cell and his entire world lit up at the sight that greeted him. A bedraggled looking Ron Weasley was sitting slumped in the corner, his ankle chained to the wall. Draco chuckled darkly at the sight of Ron, who pulled himself up to his feet when he'd realised he wasn't alone.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Draco taunted, smirking at the clearly nervous redhead. "You caught me a rat bastard weasel."

"We did," Voldemort said from where he and Lucius was standing behind Draco. "And he's all yours, Draco. Just make sure he suffers for defiling my daughter."

"I didn't defile her, she loved every minute of being with me," Ron sneered at Draco as he bit down on his terror and ignored the doubts about his own actions that had been plaguing his mind for the last few weeks. "She begged me for more, Malfoy. I guess you could never satisfy her."

Draco let out a low growl as he launched himself at Ron, his fists flying and his feet kicking out at the redheaded boy he'd always loathed. Since only his ankle was chained to the floor, Ron also got a few punches in, but it was nothing compared to the rage Draco was in. Draco's anger was fuelling him and Ron wasn't on his feet for long before he fell to the floor under the onslaught of Draco's assault.

"Enough," Lucius called, stepping forward and pulling Draco off Ron. "You don't want to rush in and do too much damage at once, Draco. Let the rat stew, and torment him slowly and painfully."

"Don't worry, that was just a little taster for what's to come," Draco spat, glaring down at where Ron was lying, blood seeping from the battering he'd just received.

"I can take whatever you have to throw at me," Ron muttered, spitting blood from his mouth as he did so.

"I doubt it Weasel, I'm just getting started," Draco vowed in a low voice as he pulled out his wand. "Now where to begin?"

However, before Draco could even think of where to begin with Ron he heard footsteps out in the corridor and he turned around in time to see a flustered looking Narcissa reach the doorway.

"It's Hermione," Narcissa announced. "She's gone into labour."

"It's too early," Draco protested.

"It's only a few weeks," Narcissa replied. "But babies don't really care about timing Draco. Your son is coming, and he's coming now."

"Looks like you get a reprieve, Weasley," Draco sneered. "But I'll be back, and when I do, you're in for a whole world of pain."

Not bothering to give Ron a further thought, Draco, Voldemort and Lucius hurried out of the dungeons with Narcissa. Leaving Ron to dread what fate awaited him, they rushed off to be with Hermione as she gave birth.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven.**

Hermione had been experiencing twinges in her abdomen sine before she got out of bed, but she ignored the signs she was possibly going into labour until her waters broke as she was sitting curled up in the front room reading. Her waters breaking sent Hermione into a panic as the baby wasn't due for a few more weeks and even though she'd read enough books to know it wasn't uncommon for babies to be born early, she still wasn't mentally prepared to give birth. To be honest she'd been putting off thinking too much about the future once she'd accepted that the baby she was carrying was Draco's and not Ron's. However, she couldn't put it off any longer, like it or not, her baby was coming.

Fortunately for Hermione, her panic wasn't shared by Daphne and the former Slytherin took Hermione's waters breaking in her stride. Even though it was weeks before she expected it to happen, Daphne remained calm as she settled Hermione in her room and sent for Adele, who would bring the healer with her, before informing Narcissa at the manor of what was happening. It had already been decided that Hermione would have a home birth, so everything was set up.

Adele and the healer Hermione had been seeing since she'd been with the dark arrived first. Once she was satisfied Hermione was doing okay, the healer called for a couple of medi-witches she worked with to assist with the birth. Adele also asked to stay by Hermione's side, and despite not really wanting to establish a relationship with the witch she knew was her mother, Hermione agreed to her staying.

"Will you stay as well, Daphne?" Hermione asked, grabbing hold of her new friend's hand.

"I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but sure," Daphne replied.

"And I don't want anyone else in here," Hermione insisted, looking at both Daphne and Adele. Even though she hadn't seen or heard anyone else, she knew Daphne had sent word to the manor and she knew before long Draco and Voldemort would be arriving, but she didn't want to deal with them while she was in the middle of giving birth.

"If that's what you want, sweetheart," Adele said soothingly, smiling affectionately at her daughter.

"It is," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

Happily, Adele kept her word and when Draco, his parents and Voldemort arrived, she briefly spoke to them and got them to wait outside for news. From the bed, Hermione could hear Draco complaining as Adele told him he would have to remain out of the bedroom, but thankfully he didn't push it and he did as she requested and kept out of her sight.

Although soon enough Draco was the last thing on Hermione's mind as their child made its way into the world. Hermione was in labour for just over three hours, a relatively short labour according to Adele, even though Hermione felt as though it had been the longest three hours of her life. The end result was a healthy baby boy, just like Draco had predicted months ago.

As Hermione finally delivered her son and the healer instantly began to check him over, the strangest thing happened to her. One minute all Hermione could think about was seeing if her baby was healthy, and the next it was as though she was in a bubble and everything around her faded to grey. Sounds in the room also seemed far away and the only thing Hermione could hear clearly was her own ragged breathing from giving birth. Fear gripped her as she wondered if something had gone wrong with the birth and she was dying. However, she seemed frozen in place and unable to call for help, despite the panic that was settling in.

Convinced she was dying, Hermione wasn't too surprised when her life started to flash before her eyes. However, she soon realised it wasn't just a flash of images from her past entering her mind, it was the images that had been foggy for so long clearing. All her memories began to shift in her head and it was as though all her mind was being cleared of cobwebs. Images of her as a child played through her head, all with Adele present as her living mother. And then they were the memories that included her father, which of course was Voldemort.

The memories then changed to the ones including Draco, which she'd already accepted had been altered. However, instead of Ron in the memories it was Draco who was the wizard she loved. Overcome with emotion from the memories, Hermione cursed the fact that her memories had returned just as she was about to die. Now she would never be able to right the terrible things she'd said and done to the people she loved.

As the room around her began to fade to black, and she could no longer hear even the faint noises she'd been dimly aware of before, Hermione felt her heart clench as she prepared to take her final breath. However, rather than the blackness taking over her, it was as though someone had suddenly turned on a light and the bubble she'd been surrounded by popped.

Blinking rapidly, Hermione took in the fact she could see and hear again. But more importantly it was as though a fog had lifted in her mind. Events of the last few months were crystal clear in her head, but equally as clear were her real memories. She knew exactly who she was, and every single memory the Order had tainted and tried to supress were right back in her head in the correct form. Somehow the spell had broken and she was back.

"Here Hermione," Adele said as she gently handed her daughter a tiny baby wrapped in a blue blanket, breaking her out of the daze she was in. "Say hello to your son."

Hermione didn't have a chance to share her miraculous memory cure as she was instantly swept away by the tiny bundle in her arms. Her son was a tiny little thing with perfectly formed features and he was staring up at her with bright silver eyes, which she suspected would darken into the same stormy grey as Draco's.

"Hello precious," she whispered. "I'm your Mummy."

"We should let Draco know what's going on," Adele said as she headed towards the bedroom door while the healer and medi-witches cleaned up.

"I'd like to see him alone when I can," Hermione said.

Hermione wanted to shout out to everyone that she was back, but given the suffering Draco had been through, she thought it was only right that he was the first person to know that he had her back. Although if he would still want her was another matter, as a lot had happened since they were last together properly. Hermione suppressed a shudder as she thought of some of the things that had happened and the effects they were undoubtedly going to have on her life from now on.

It was actually another fifteen minutes before Hermione and the baby were left alone to wait for Draco. While Adele was delivering the good news to him and the others, the healer was giving Hermione and the baby a final check over. Promising to visit again the following day, the healer and her medi-witches left, and after congratulating Hermione and helping her change into some fresh clothes, Daphne also left her alone.

"Daddy will be here to see you soon," Hermione crooned to her son as she lay on top of the bedcovers with her new-born baby cradled in her arms.

Just then the door to the bedroom slowly opened and Draco warily entered the room. Cautiously he made his way over to where Hermione was sitting, and the second his eyes landed on his son, his face broke out in a wide grin.

"He's perfect," he whispered, reaching out to stroke the baby's head. He also wanted to embrace Hermione, but he knew that wasn't an option, so instead he gave her a smile and thanked her.

"You shouldn't be thanking me," Hermione said with a shake of her head.

"I should," Draco insisted. "You've given me a handsome son. And I know to you, his birth ties you to me in a way you don't want to be, but for me, this day is perfect."

"I can make it better," Hermione said softly.

"How could this possibly get better?" Draco asked as he continued to stare down at his new-born son.

"I remember," Hermione said.

"You remember?" Draco's head whipped up so quickly to look at Hermione that he almost got whiplash. "What do you remember?"

"Everything," Hermione answered as she felt tears pooling in her eyes when she looked at the wizard she loved and thought about how hard he'd fought for her. "I know who I am Draco, and I know how much I love you."

Sensing Draco didn't quite know whether to believe her, Hermione carefully leaned towards him and pressed her lips against his. Ever so slowly he began to respond to the kiss, and once he realised she was kissing him back, he tangled his hand in her hair and pulled her as close as he could without squashing their son in between them. As they kissed, tears fell from both their eyes and mingled together as they were finally reunited.

"I don't understand," Draco whispered, as they reluctantly broke apart. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "It was just after I'd given birth. It was as though I went into a bubble, I could see and hear, but it all seemed so far away. At first I thought I was dying, but then my memories started to fix themselves. All the alterations that had been made reverted back to their normal state. Then when the bubble popped, it was as though my head was clear for the first time in months. All my memories are perfectly intact."

"All of them?" Draco asked. "Even recent ones?"

"Unfortunately, even recent ones," Hermione replied with a grimace. "I'm so sorry Draco. You've been through hell these past few months."

"It's hardly been a picnic for you either," Draco said, gently cupping Hermione's face in his hand. "And you have no reason to be sorry."

"I rather think I do. I cheated on you. I slept with Ron," Hermione whispered, feeling sick to the pit of her stomach as the thought of Ron touching her. She fully recalled Draco's earlier stance that Ron had raped her, and it was one she fully agreed with now her memories were back and she was no longer acting like a stubborn cow, but there was still a large part of her that felt guilty as she'd never actually said no to Ron.

"No, you didn't sleep with him, he raped you," Draco snarled. "You may not have said no, but we both know that in your right mind, you never would have gone near to that rodent. He knew your memories had been affected, and he took advantage of that to get you into bed. So I never want to hear you blame yourself for what happened with Weasley. He was the one in the wrong, not you."

"Is it really that simple?" Hermione asked. "Can you really look at it like that?"

"I can and I do," Draco insisted. "Please don't torture yourself Hermione. Whatever you've done these last few months, it's been because of what the Order did to you. If they hadn't screwed with your memories, things would have been very different."

"I would have been with you properly and we would have enjoyed my pregnancy together," Hermione said sadly. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. I think deep down I knew from the start that what you were telling me was true."

"Really?" Draco arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Because it really didn't seem like that. Even for someone as stubborn as you, it took you a hell of a long time to start thinking logically."

"I didn't look at things logically, because I didn't want to accept what you were saying was true," Hermione admitted. "Even before you snatched me, I knew something was wrong between Ron and I, but I didn't want to dig too deep to find answers."

"Why?" Draco asked, genuinely curious as to Hermione's recent thought process.

"Because the Order didn't just change my memories, they used my existing memories in their favour. They didn't invent a whole relationship with Ron, they used our relationship as the base. And with that came all the feelings I have for you."

"Which you thought were of Weasley," Draco said with a grimace.

"Exactly," Hermione said softly. "I love you so much, Draco, and they used that love to make me believe I felt the same thing for Ron. So even though I knew things were wrong, I didn't want to question it as it didn't want to break this amazing relationship I knew I had, and had such good memories of."

"But what about once you were with us?" Draco asked. "Why did you cling so hard to the thought of Weasley?"

"It wasn't the thought of Ron I was clinging to, it was you I was clinging to, I just didn't know it," Hermione replied with a sad smile. "Say the Order were to get me back right now, and tried and convince me that it was you who had altered my memories, and you'd found a way to replace Ron in my memories, I would fight it with every bone in my body. Even if they started to make sense, I would fight it because of the feelings I have for you. I fought you because of my feelings for you."

"Which you thought were for Weasley," Draco sighed, starting to understand where his girlfriend had been coming from. In a way it was pretty ironic that she'd fought him so hard because she wanted to cling onto such a strong, all consuming love that she felt for him, but which the Order had transferred to Ron.

"Now I can see how stupid I was," Hermione admitted sheepishly. "I should have let my head rule my heart. If I'd only been more logical, I would have accepted things much easier. But you know what a stubborn cow I can be."

"Yeah, not even the Order could change that about you," Draco said with a low chuckle. "It might have been easier to get through to you if you hadn't been as stubborn, but then that wouldn't be you, would it? Not that it matters now, because you're back where you belong."

"Not quite," Hermione said, looking around the room she was in. "This isn't home, Draco. I know why I moved her, but everything's changed now. Your son and I want to come home to you, if you'll have us."

"Of course I'll have you," Draco replied with a delighted grin. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I was a complete and utter bitch to you," Hermione answered quietly. "I spent months ignoring you and pushing you away, and then I used your feelings for me to push you into helping me leave the manor. You have to at least hate me a little bit for that."

"I don't hate you at all," Draco assured her with a small smile. "I could never hate you. I won't lie and I can't say I've always liked you these last few months, but I've never hated you. Nor will I ever hate you."

"So we can come home?" Hermione checked.

"Right this second," Draco confirmed with a firm nod of his head. "We can have everything you've sorted for the nursery taken back to the manor today. Your father is going to be so happy you're back."

"My parents," Hermione whispered as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. "I've been so horrible to them, Draco."

"They understand," Draco said soothingly. "Like me, they know you haven't been yourself just recently, and they don't hold anything you said against you. They love you and nothing can change that."

"I hope you're right," Hermione said, looking down at her son, whose eyes had drifted closed, and realising that there was nothing he could do or say in the future that would stop her from loving him. She just hoped the same principle applied to her parents.

"Shall I go and get your parents?" Draco asked. "Daphne was making everyone some tea. I think they were all hoping to see the baby."

"I'd like to see everyone, including your parents," Hermione said. "But first, can we try and give our son a name. I don't like just calling him 'baby'."

"Had you been thinking of any names?" Draco questioned. All the names he'd thought of were star and constellation names, but he'd never mentioned it before given what was going on with Hermione.

"None that are suitable for him," Hermione replied. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Plenty, I just never thought I would get to share them with you," Draco said. "Obviously I'm thinking of following my mother's family tradition of looking to the heavens for inspiration."

"Obviously," Hermione said with a smile. She had actually very briefly considered that route herself, but in her previous state she'd quickly dismissed the idea out of hand as she'd been railing against having Draco's baby. "So what suggestions do you have?"

Draco had plenty of suggestions and after talking over all the options they both found they had the same favourite name - Scorpius.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Draco said, stroking his son's head. "It suits him."

"It does," Hermione agreed. "Now go and get everyone. First we need to introduce them to Scorpius, and then we need to break the news that I'm back. I'm in no fit state right now, but I can promise you that the Order are going to pay for what they did to me. I want my revenge, Draco."

"And together we'll take it," Draco replied, thinking about the surprise Hermione was going to get when she discovered they already had Ron in their possession. "But today is about you and Scorpius, and our family being reunited again. Let's just enjoy getting things back to how they should be before we think about the Order."

Hermione nodded in agreement and watched with a smile as Draco headed off to get their parents. She was looking forward to getting things back on track with her loved ones, and while things seemed to have gone swimmingly with Draco, she couldn't help but worry that it might be too much to ask for things to go back to how they were. Under the influence of a potion or not, Hermione had still done plenty to hurt Draco and the people she loved and she suspected that only time would tell if she was able to make up for that hurt, or if the Order had actually managed to destroy her bond with her family, albeit not in the way they'd originally intended.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight.**

The air was thick with nervous tension in Hermione's small kitchen as her parents and Draco's waited to see if she would allow them to see the baby. Adele had been lucky enough to attend the birth, so she'd already seen her grandson, but no-one else had and to be honest, no-one was sure if Hermione would allow them to see the baby so soon. They were all just grateful that she'd asked to see Draco straight away, and they were hoping the fact he'd been gone a while was a good omen.

"I wish someone would let us know what was happening," Voldemort grouched, unable to drink the tea Daphne had prepared due to his nerves. Becoming a grandfather should have been one of the happiest days of his life, but thanks to the Order, his daughter was repulsed by him and he suspected that unless things were about to change now she'd had the baby, she would want to keep him as far away from her and the child as she could manage.

"Do you think it's a good sign that Draco has been gone so long?" Narcissa asked, glancing towards Daphne. "Could she possibly be starting to come round?"

"She's never indicated a change of heart to me, I'm afraid," Daphne replied honestly. "Last time we spoke about the future, she was as determined as ever to go it alone after the birth."

"Oh," Narcissa whispered sadly. "I was hoping that she would eventually see that she wasn't alone, and there's plenty of people around who cares about her."

"She knows that," Lucius said to his wife. "The problem is, she doesn't care about us thanks to what Dumbledore did to her. That's the problem here. Without her memories she's going to keep rejecting everyone who loves her."

"Lucius is right," Voldemort said sadly. "Until we can find a way to return her memories, my little girl is lost to us. The best we can do is keep her and the baby safe."

"How close are we to finding an antidote?" Adele asked.

"Not at all close," Lucius answered with a sigh. "Severus and I have been working on it as much as we can, but we're not progressing very far. It's such an old potion that none of the modern methods we're used to are getting us anywhere. But we're not giving up. We will find a solution, no matter how long it takes."

"Let's just hope the answer doesn't come too late," Adele replied quietly. "Something tells me it's not going to be as easy to keep Hermione in line now she's had the baby. She's a smart girl, and if she really wants to be away from us, I wouldn't put it past her to find a way to escape so we never see her again."

"You can't think like that," Voldemort said to his wife in a low voice. He had to admit he'd thought along the same lines, but the only way he'd been able to cope was to let himself believe that one day he would get his precious daughter back to how she was meant to be.

Silence once again descended on the kitchen and it was only broken by the sound of footsteps heading their way. Everyone eagerly turned towards the kitchen door, and all eyes were on Draco as he entered the room.

"How are things?" Lucius asked. "Have you seen the baby?"

"I have," Draco replied, supressing a smirk at the surprise everyone was about to receive. "I've just come to ask you if you want to meet your grandson."

"All of us?" Narcissa questioned, exchanging puzzled frowns with Adele.

"Yes, all of you," Draco replied with a nod of his head as he turned and exited the kitchen. "Come on, my son is waiting for you all," he called over his shoulder.

The two sets of parents looked at each other in bewilderment, before following Draco from the room. Even though they were all hoping to see Hermione and the baby, they hadn't for one minute thought she would extend a group invitation.

"Are you sure about this, Draco?" Adele asked, catching hold of Draco's arm just as he was about to open the bedroom door. "We don't want to overwhelm Hermione."

"She asked for you all to come and see her," Draco answered. "Trust me, this is what she wants."

Reassured by Draco's words the foursome allowed him to push open the bedroom door so they could enter. Hermione was sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling down at the tiny bundle cradled in her arms. Looking up at the visitors, she smiled slightly and got to her feet.

"Come and meet, Scorpius," she said.

"Scorpius?" Narcissa gasped. "You've followed the tradition."

"We have," Draco answered as he gently took hold of his son and showed him off to his parents and Hermione's.

"What's going on here?" Voldemort asked suspiciously as he tore his eyes away from his new grandson and turned to his daughter. For months, Hermione had done nothing but push them away, yet here she was, standing by with a smile on her face as they all cooed over her child.

"Don't you want to see your grandson?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I do," Voldemort replied. "But there is something going on here. Why are you letting us see him en-masse, when you've spent months trying to keep us at arm's length? You better not be planning on running away."

"I'm not running away," Hermione replied. "And the reason I asked you all in together was because I've got an announcement to make."

"What sort of announcement?" Lucius asked warily. Like Voldemort, he was surprised by how calm and accommodating Hermione was given what was going on with her.

"It's good news," Hermione reassured the worried parents. "I'm back."

"Back?" Adele frowned, not sure what her daughter meant at first.

"My memories are back," Hermione clarified. "I know exactly who I am and where I belong. I know that everyone I love is in this room. You are my family, all I can say is sorry for how I've treated you over the last few months."

"How can this be possible?" Narcissa gasped as everyone else stared at Hermione lost for words.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted with a shrug. "But it's happened. My memories are all intact, every single one of them."

With a sob, Adele rushed over to her daughter and embraced her in her arms. Seeing the way Hermione hugged her mother back, Voldemort strode over to the pair and engulfed them both in his strong embrace.

"I've missed you sweetheart," he whispered to Hermione.

"I've missed you too, Daddy," Hermione returned, holding onto her parents as though they were going to vanish right in front of her eyes. "I just hope you can forgive me for the way I've treated you for the last few months."

"We have nothing to forgive you for," Voldemort insisted. "Everything that has happened, is all down to Dumbledore and his cronies."

"I wish it were that simple," Hermione sighed. "But no matter what the circumstances, it doesn't change the fact I've been a terrible daughter for the last few months. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to make up for the way I've treated you both."

"You don't need to make up for anything, all that matters is that you're back," Adele wept, stroking her daughter's face. "I have my daughter back."

"You do," Hermione assured her mother.

Knowing there was still so much more she needed to say, and despite what her parents were saying, so much to make up for, Hermione accepted that for now things were in the mend with her family. After embracing her parents for several more moments, she finally extracted herself from their embrace and headed over to Draco's parents. Both of Draco's parents received hugs and apologies, but like her own parents, they brushed off her apologies and expressed how happy they were to get the real Hermione back.

"I still don't get how," Narcissa muttered as Hermione made her way back over to Draco and Scorpius and nestled herself at her boyfriend's side.

"I think I might have an answer," Lucius said, his eyes darting to Scorpius, who'd fallen asleep in his father's arms. "I would like to consult with Severus though."

"I would like some answers," Hermione said. "If you talked to Severus we could maybe get some tonight."

"Answers would be great, but first of all we need to get you and Scorpius home," Draco said.

"You're coming back to the manor?" Narcissa asked as a delighted grin lit up her face.

"If you'll have me," Hermione replied. "You don't mind if I go back to the manor, do you?" she checked with her parents.

"Of course not, you need to be with Draco and the baby," Voldemort said. It would have been lovely to have Hermione return home, but he'd always known that once she'd finished with the Order she would be moving in with Draco so they could start their lives together, it had just happened differently to how he'd ever expected it to.

"Since it's getting on, let's just take the essentials back tonight," Hermione said. "We can move everything else tomorrow."

"Until we pick out a room for the nursery, we can put Scorpius's cot in with us," Draco said. "If of course you want to be in my room. Your old room's still free if you would rather stay there."

"I want to be with you," Hermione insisted, leaning up and giving Draco a quick kiss. "I've always wanted to be with you, the Order just took that knowledge away from me."

"Narcissa and I can help get some baby things sorted for tonight," Adele volunteered.

"If you can do that, I can go and see Daphne," Hermione said. "I need to thank her for everything she's done for me."

Leaving Draco and their mothers to sort out what was going to be taken back to the manor, Hermione headed off in search of Daphne. She found her new friend sitting in the kitchen, and she gave Daphne the shock of her life when she informed her that she was back to normal and her memories had returned.

"I'll never forget what you've done for me, Daphne," Hermione said sincerely. "And I hope our friendship will continue."

"Of course it will," Daphne said with a smile. "I'm just so thrilled that your memories are back. It's perfect timing. Now you and Draco get to be a proper family with your son."

"It will be nice to be back together, and with all my memories intact," Hermione agreed. "Once I'm settled in at the manor again, you and Theo must come to dinner. In fact, I think it's time I met all of Draco's friends. It's time I took my rightful place at my father's side."

Saying goodbye to Daphne, who was also planning on packing up and leaving that evening now Hermione was going, Hermione returned to her own packing and after throwing a few of her own things into a bag she was ready to head home to the manor with Draco.

Being back at the manor was a strange experience for Hermione and as Draco, Narcissa and Adele settled Scorpius into Draco's bedroom, she wandered around the familiar wing, thinking about the past few months. Recent events must have been absolute torture for Draco, and Hermione knew that at times she'd been absolutely brutal towards him. She'd rejected him and threw his love back in his face on more than one occasion and she felt so guilty. Even when her feelings towards him had softened, she hadn't admitted it, she'd maintained her cold front and left him thinking that he'd lost her for good.

"Don't torture yourself," Draco said gently, taking Hermione into his arms when she returned to his bedroom.

"I can't help it," Hermione whispered. "So much has happened."

"None of it your fault," Draco insisted. "I won't let you blame yourself, Hermione. The only people to blame here are the Order, and I promise you that we will make them pay for what they've done to you."

"Not just to me, to all of us," Hermione corrected.

"We will get our vengeance, Hermione. Starting with the Weasel," Draco said with a smirk as he told Hermione about their prisoner down in the dungeons, and how he'd only just gotten started when he received the news she'd gone into labour.

"Good, so I haven't missed anything," Hermione replied as an evil smirk of her own settled itself on her lips. "I want to be there to witness every single second of his pain."

"And you will be," Draco assured his girlfriend, thrilled to see her dark nature was now fully back. "But first, let's go downstairs and see what answers Father and Severus have for us."

Taking Scorpius with them the couple went downstairs and settled in the front room. When Severus arrived, he was amazed by the difference in Hermione. He was also thrilled to meet Scorpius, and over the moon that his parents were back together like they belonged.

"Do you have answers for us, Severus?" Draco asked impatiently as everyone settled down to talk.

"Without running tests, no definite ones," Severus replied. "But I do have a very solid theory as to what happened. I just can't believe I didn't think of this before."

"I'm also kicking myself," Lucius said. "The second we knew Hermione was pregnant, we should have thought about this possibility."

"Are you saying my memories returning has something to do with my pregnancy?" Hermione questioned with a confused frown.

"Yes," Severus answered with a nod. "Years ago potions and their effects could be affected if the drinker was pregnant. Some potions weren't even given to pregnant witches because of the changes that could occur. Of course, time moves on and people got smarter and these days most potions have been tweaked to work effectively with pregnancy."

"But not this one?" Draco checked.

"No, this potion is ancient," Lucius said. "Which is one of the reasons we weren't very near to finding an antidote."

"I still don't really get what happened," Hermione said, wondering if she was slower than normal at getting the point because she'd just given birth that day and she was feeling incredibly tired.

"Basically, Scorpius saved your memories for you," Severus explained. "Chances were your real memories were wrapped up in his development, especially as his conception and your consumption of the potion happened so close together. When you gave birth, the memories were freed and returned to you. Of course I'll have to run checks on both you and Scorpius to be sure, but that's my best bet at what happened and why your memories are back now."

"There won't be any side effects for Scorpius, will there?" Hermione asked, looking down at her son who was nestled snugly in her arms.

"There shouldn't be," Severus said. "But just to put your mind to rest, I'll check him over thoroughly in the morning."

"Wow, I can't believe he saved you," Draco chuckled, stroking the top of his son's head.

"What would have happened if I hadn't been pregnant?" Hermione asked.

"You would still be without your real memories and we'd still be trying to find an antidote," Lucius replied. "But let's just be grateful that you were pregnant when the Order slipped you that potion."

"I can't believe Dumbledore would make such a foolish mistake," Hermione frowned, thinking that they had to be missing something. "I know he didn't know I was pregnant when I was first given the potion, but what about afterwards. Did it really never occur to him that the baby would save me?"

"More than likely not," Voldemort said. "After all, it didn't occur to any of us and like Severus and Lucius, I knew about ancient potions being affected by pregnancy."

"It's just not something that happens these days," Severus said. "I for one never would have thought about it had your memories not returned the very day you'd given birth. Even now, I would bet it's never occurred to Dumbledore that the potion hasn't worked properly."

"I think we should just be grateful for such a stroke of luck," Adele said. "Hermione is back, and that's what important."

"It is," Voldemort agreed with a nod. "That and the birth of our grandson. Things are looking up for us again, and I say we give Scorpius a present and take control of this world for him. Draco, Hermione, I'm leaving the weasel down in the dungeons at your mercy. Lucius, Severus, spread the word that I want a full Death Eater meeting in forty eight hours. It's time we ended this war once and for all."

Smiling at the passion in her father's voice, Hermione said her goodnights and together with Draco, took their son off to bed. She then collapsed into Draco's bed and was fast asleep before her boyfriend even got a chance to join her. As for Draco, he spent most of the night lying awake, hardly able to believe his luck. Not only did he have the witch he loved back, but he also had a beautiful son. His life was definitely on the up, and they still had plenty to look forward to as Voldemort's plans for the future took shape, and he and Hermione would be right of the forefront of them.


	30. Chapter 29

**A/N - While I'm sure this is the chapter a lot of people have been waiting for, I just want to warn that it is pretty dark. This chapter is one of the reasons this story is rated M, and it's certainly one of the darkest chapters I've ever written.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty Nine.**

Being back at the manor with all her memories intact was a surreal experience for Hermione, and she spent her first couple of days back adjusting. Not only was she dealing with becoming a mother for the first time as such a young age, but recent events were weighing heavily on her mind. Upon the return of her memories, everyone she loved had welcomed her back with open arms and held no grudges against her over anything she'd said and done over the last few months. However, for Hermione, things weren't quite that simple and she was still wracked with guilt over her mistreatment of the people who loved her.

Deep down, Hermione knew she wasn't to blame for her actions, but that didn't help her when she woke up in the middle of the night, her mind full of the insults and accusations she'd hurled at her loved ones. Even once she'd accepted they were telling her the truth, she'd still resented them and made it clear she wanted nothing to do with them. Truth be told, she'd been horrible to absolutely everyone and she still wasn't sure how everyone else could just act as though nothing had happened.

Hermione was especially baffled by how easy Draco was finding everything. He treated her with just as much love as he'd always done, and Hermione was in no doubt that she and Scorpius meant the world to him. He never mentioned Ron, or the fact Hermione had slept with him while under the Order's influence, but Hermione knew he had to think about it. She herself couldn't stop thinking about Ron, and how despicable he'd acted in taking her to bed when he knew they weren't a real couple. Although, even knowing that Ron had been in the wrong and he'd been the one to take advantage of her, Hermione still felt guilty over the fact she'd been unfaithful to Draco, and it was that more than anything that had been keeping her awake on a night.

On the day her father had arranged to have a meeting to make plans to end the war, Hermione was awake at the crack of dawn. Lying silently beside Draco, her mind wandered back to the couple of months she'd spent with Ron over the summer and hot tears rolled down her face as she recalled how easily she'd been misled. Even though her instincts had been telling her something was wrong, she'd ignored them and was quite content to play the happy couple with Ron. And all the time she was with Ron, Draco was left to wonder what was wrong and why she hadn't contacted him. He must have thought that she'd no longer loved him, and the idea of Draco feeling rejected made Hermione cry all the harder.

For a long time, Hermione lay silently crying beside Draco, but when Scorpius let out a loud cry, she sat up and wiped at her tears. Unfortunately, Draco was a light sleeper and his eyes were open before Hermione had managed to fully hide her distressed state.

"What's wrong?" he asked as Hermione hopped out of bed to see to their son.

"Nothing, he's just wanting some attention," Hermione replied, purposefully misunderstanding Draco.

"I didn't mean with Scorpius, I meant with you," Draco said, getting out of bed himself and padding over to where they'd set up Scorpius's cot.

"I'm fine," Hermione lied.

"Don't," Draco said softly, taking Scorpius out of Hermione's arms and placing him back in his cot before turning his girlfriend to face him. "You've been crying, and I want to know why."

"Guilt," Hermione whispered.

"Guilt for what?" Draco questioned with a frown. In his opinion the only people who should be feeling guilty were the ones who were complicit in the plan to drug Hermione.

"Everything," Hermione confessed. "Before you say it, I know Ron was the one in the wrong taking advantage of me in my doctored state, but I can't help feeling guilty. Memories or not, I still slept with him, and I can't escape the guilt that comes from knowing I cheated on you."

"You did not cheat on me," Draco insisted firmly. "If the same thing had happened to me, and me memories had been tampered with and I thought I was with Pansy and slept with her, would you blame me?"

"No," Hermione answered with a shake of her head. "And I know you don't blame me for what happened with Ron. I don't even blame myself. But I do feel guilty. Could you honestly say you wouldn't feel the same way if it had been the other way around and you'd slept with someone else?"

"I guess you're right, I would feel guilty," Draco quietly conceded. "But you can't wallow in your guilt, Hermione. You need to move past it, or else we're never going to get back to normal."

"I know," Hermione confessed with a nod. "I need to deal with my guilt, not just about Ron, but about everything. Everyone's been so great to me, but I know I've hurt so many people. I would barely talk to my father, I was horribly rude to my mother, I virtually ignored your mother and I even tried to steal your father's wand. I know no-one blames me for anything I said or did while under the influence of the potion, but I've still got to learn to live with the fact I shunned everyone I loved."

"I wouldn't say shunned exactly," Draco said. "In fact, there were times we had civil conversations."

"There were," Hermione agreed with a nod. "Which reminds me, I've got a confession to make. If my memories hadn't returned, I never would have told you this, but there was always a part of me that was attracted to you. By the time I moved out, I had feelings for you, but I was determined to ignore them."

"Even without your memories, you still felt something for me?" Draco checked, a smirk breaking out on his face.

"I did," Hermione confirmed. "I didn't want to, but even without my memories, a part of you was always in my heart."

"That's good to know," Draco said, pulling his girlfriend into his arms. "It just shows that we were meant to be together. Even Dumbledore and his evil plan couldn't really tear us apart."

"He might have succeeded had you not snatched me," Hermione said softly.

She hated to think about what would have happened if Draco hadn't kidnapped her and brought her back to the manor when he had. As much as she'd hated it at the time, Hermione was now grateful beyond relief that the dark had managed to get her back to them. Chances were if she'd still been with the Order, they would have had her locked away supposedly for her own safety and who knows what they would have done with Scorpius. After all, it's not as if they could have passed the child off as Ron's as one look at her son was enough to see he was Malfoy.

"Let's not think about what might have happened," Draco said. "Let's focus on today. Are you ready to deal with Weasley? I thought it best if we dealt with him before the meeting this evening."

Hermione nodded, eager to deal with the Order, starting with the one person who had hurt her the most. Despite only having given birth a couple of days ago, Hermione was feeling strong and she was more than ready to deal with Ron. Besides, once they'd dealt with Ron they could focus on getting rid of the rest of the Order and ending the war. Then Hermione could settle down with Draco and Scorpius and focus on her family.

"Let's get Scorpius ready and have some breakfast," Draco said. "I'm sure our mothers would love to have him for the day."

"Day?" Hermione questioned with a chuckle. "Just how much torturing are you planning on doing?"

"A lot," Draco replied in a deadly voice. "Our fathers are busy making plans for the final battle, so I promised them I'd get some revenge for them as well. Weasley is going to suffer for a long time before he finally gets to die."

"That sounds good to me," Hermione replied with a wicked smirk, before turning her attention to her son.

Half an hour later, Draco and Hermione had both been showered and dressed and Scorpius was ready to spend the day with his grandmothers. Of course Narcissa didn't have any problems with looking after Scorpius when Draco asked her over breakfast and no sooner had she finished eating than she whisked Scorpius away to contact Adele so the three of them could spend the day together.

"I take it this means Weasley is meeting his maker today," Lucius remarked as he wife left the room with their grandson.

"He is," Draco confirmed. "Any special requests?"

"Nothing I can think of, just make it painful," Lucius said.

"I intend to," Draco smirked as he took hold of Hermione's hand and together they headed towards the dungeons.

"Don't start the torture straight away," Hermione ordered her boyfriend when they reached the dungeons and the room Ron was being held in. "I want answers to a few questions first."

"Maybe we should have bought some veritiserum," Draco mused.

"I'm sure we can make him talk," Hermione replied. "You go first, and I'll join you in a second."

Knowing his girlfriend wanted to make an entrance, Draco removed his wand before pushing open the door and entering the room. As he was before, Ron was shackled to the wall via one of his ankles, only he looked distinctly more dishevelled and weak. Even so, he managed to get himself to his feet at the sight of Draco and sneer at the blond wizard.

"Back again, Malfoy. I thought you would be playing happy families with your little tart."

"Now is that anyway to talk about the love of your life?" Hermione questioned with a low chuckle as she stepped into the room.

"I've never loved you," Ron spat, immediately realising that somehow Hermione was back to her true self. Not only that but she looked to be in great shape considering it only seemed have been a couple of days ago that Draco was torturing him when news came through she was giving birth.

"That's not what you said when we were together," Hermione said with a pout. "You've told me you loved me lots of times, both before and after you found out who I was. Were you lying every time?"

"Just a word of warning Weasley, if I think you're lying, I'm going to break a finger," Draco said before Ron could answer his girlfriend.

"You wouldn't have the balls," Ron spat.

"Wouldn't I?" Draco retorted, freezing Ron to the spot and yanking his right hand forward. Giving Ron an evil smirk, he took his little finger in his hand and bent it back until Ron was screaming in agony and the loud cracking of bones filled the air.

"Answer me Ron, or you get another broken finger," Hermione warned.

"Why should I answer you, you're only going to kill me anyway?" Ron hissed, trying his best to focus on his anger rather than his pain.

"We are, but you can go painfully or easily," Hermione said. "It's your choice, Ron. Answer the few questions I have for you, and we'll be merciful. Refuse and we'll break you into a million pieces before finally letting you go. So I'll ask you again, were you lying every time you told me you loved me."

"No, just after we'd given you the potion," Ron replied, glancing warily at Draco who was ready to break his finger if he thought he was lying. "I couldn't love you after I knew who you were."

"Yet you were happy to take her to bed," Draco spat. "Get off on rape, do you Weasel?"

"It wasn't rape, she never said no," Ron argued. Even though he'd reluctantly accepted that he had indeed raped Hermione, there was no way in hell he was going to admit it. He would rather brazen it out and try to hurt Draco by reminding him that he'd had his girlfriend in his bed.

"That is a technicality," Draco hissed angrily. "You knew she wouldn't say yes in her right mind. She only said yes because her memories had been tampered with. You knew this and yet you still slept with her, in my eyes that makes you a rapist."

"Yet we couldn't have done this if she hadn't been such a lying cow in the first place," Ron sneered at Hermione. "You've only got yourself to blame, Hermione. Although, I do want to know one thing. Why are you back with them? Have they turned you?"

"No, I'm back because Dumbledore failed," Hermione answered with a laugh. "The second I gave birth to my son, my memories returned. So not only did your little plan fail, but it's merely angered me and my family. Everyone involved in the scheme is going to die, I'll personally make sure of that."

"I'll never tell you who knew about the plan," Ron said defiantly.

"I don't need to know who was involved, I can guess," Hermione said with a shrug. "But that's not important now. I have another question for you. What did you plan to do with my son? You didn't know if he was yours, so what were you going to do when it turned out to be Draco's?"

"We were going to make sure you had a difficult birth and tell you the baby had died," Ron replied honestly, knowing the truth would hurt Hermione.

"You were going to kill my son?" Draco spat, grabbing Ron by the throat and pinning him against the wall.

"No," Ron spluttered, wishing he could move so he could try and get Draco off him. "We were just going to tell her he'd died. Dumbledore was going to send him away somewhere."

"He's good at doing that isn't he," Hermione snorted. "He did the same with Harry."

"Only because your poxy father killed his parents," Ron retorted as Draco backed off and he went falling to the floor as he also released the spell he'd had on him. "You're evil, Hermione, and I wish I'd said no to this plan. Sleeping with you disgusted me, and you weren't even good at it."

"Bastard," Draco spat, yanking Ron to his feet and landing a solid fist on his nose. "Any more questions, Hermione?" he asked as Ron howled in pain as blood rushed from his nose.

"No, let's make the rat suffer," Hermione said.

"What about being merciful?" Ron questioned as Hermione pulled out her wand.

"Haven't you learnt anything, Ron?" Hermione cackled. "I'm the daughter of The Dark Lord, I can't be trusted. I've lied to you about everything else, so why did you think I was telling the truth now? After everything you've done to me, you're going to be in for a whole world of pain before you finally leave this earth."

Not sure he could cope with what was going to happen to him, Ron let out a whimper and curled himself up into a ball in the corner of the room. Sadly for Ron making himself a smaller target didn't help much as Draco blasted him with the Cruciatius Curse. Writhing in agony, Ron let out a small breath of relief when Draco ended the curse after only a couple of minutes. However, his relief was short lived as no sooner had Draco finished than Hermione blasted him with the same curse.

For nearly an hour, Draco and Hermione alternated in torturing Ron with the Cruciatius Curse. By the time they'd grown bored of the curse, Ron was steadily crying and his entire body was shaking with pain. Unfortunately for Ron, his pain wasn't over and Draco cast the Imperius Curse on him, forcing him to get to his feet. While Draco was dealing with Ron, Hermione transfigured a broken bit of wall into a table and she turned the key to the cell into a sledgehammer.

"Hands on the table, Weasley," Draco ordered.

Ron tried to fight the curse, but after the torture he'd just suffered he wasn't mentally strong enough to throw the curse off. Shaking and sobbing, he laid his hands on the table, his already broken finger sticking out at an odd angle.

"Please don't," he begged Hermione, who was twirling the hammer around in her hands.

"Don't what? Don't miss?" Hermione laughed. "Don't worry Ron, I won't."

Before Ron could react, Hermione swung the hammer and brought it down on the back of Ron's right hand. Ron's screams of agony echoed through the room as Hermione continued to hammer his hand until every finger was broken and several of the bones in the hand itself were shattered.

"That'll teach you not to touch what's not yours," Draco said with a cackle as Hermione dished out the same treatment to Ron's left hand.

"I'm sorry," Ron wailed as Draco dropped the Imperius Curse and he was finally able to gingerly move his shattered hands off the table.

"He's such a pathetic little creature, isn't he?" Draco said to his girlfriend as Ron slumped back down on the floor.

"Little's the right description," Hermione chuckled, wiggling her little finger.

"Really?" Draco laughed, more through fury than amusement as he thought of Ron being naked with Hermione.

"Why don't you see for yourself," Hermione said as she transfigured the table and sledgehammer into shackles.

Finding another broken piece of wall in the far corner of the room, Hermione also transfigured them into shackles and handed all three to her boyfriend. Draco snapped one of the shackles onto Ron's free ankle and secured it to the wall, before hauling the broken redhead to his feet and shackling his wrists to the wall as well so he was standing up.

"Are you ready to go yet?" Draco asked Ron.

Knowing whatever answer he gave would only result in more torture, Ron kept silent. Although to be honest he was in so much pain it was a struggle to even focus on his torturers. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand much more and although the thought of dying frightened him, the thought of being put through much more pain frightened him even more. It was rapidly reaching the point where death would be a welcome release.

"I think he can stand a little bit more," Hermione said, raising her wand and magically stripping Ron of his clothes, although she left his underwear on.

"Pathetic," Draco sneered, wondering if Ron had always been so weak and lanky or if his imprisonment had taken its toll on him.

"Just get on with it," Ron muttered through clenched teeth.

"Have patience, Weasley," Draco chuckled. "I'm building up to the big climax. But before that, I want to make you suffer."

Using his wand, Draco then proceeded to slice thin slits in Ron's skin. None of the cuts were deep but they all hurt and the more than appeared on his skin, the more pain Ron was in. After ten minutes his torso was covered in little cuts which were slowly bleeding. When Draco stepped back to admire his handiwork, Hermione raised her own wand and cast a spell to douse Ron in ice cold water. Ron howled in pain as the water ran into the cuts, making them feel as though they were being opened up by tiny little knives.

"I think it's time for the final act," Hermione said to Draco. Even though they'd never discussed just what they were going to do with Ron, she knew their thoughts were heading in the same direction and she would bet anything that Draco was planning the same finale as she was thinking about.

"So do I, I've had enough of this scumbag," Draco said. Marching up to Ron, he slapped him to make sure he had the redhead's full attention. "You're nothing but a dirty rapist, Weasley, and now you're going to get what you deserve."

Stepping back again, Draco raised his wand and magically removed Ron's underwear. Grateful he had magic to do what he wanted to do, so he didn't have to touch Ron's junk, Draco grinned wickedly at the horrified redhead, who seemed to have gained enough composure to know what was about to happen to him.

"No, please don't," Ron begged. "Please Hermione, don't do this. I beg you. You're not this cruel."

"Yes, I am," Hermione replied. "Do it, Draco."

Not needing to be asked twice, Draco raised his wand and ignoring Ron's pleading and crying he cast a severing curse at the redhead's manhood. Ron's scream of pain even made Draco wince as he watched Ron's penis detach from his body and drop to the floor below. Ron was also bleeding profusely from his groin, and it came as no surprise that his cries quickly stopped as he fell into unconsciousness.

"Is he dead?" Hermione asked.

"If he isn't, he soon will be," Draco replied, averting his eyes from the bloody sight of Ron's mangled body. Ron had gotten exactly what was coming to him and he felt no remorse for castrating him, but he didn't want to look at Ron or his detached penis.

"Yes, he will," Hermione said as she raised her wand and pointed it at Ron. "Avada Kedavra."

Now Ron was definitely dead, but they could certainly say he'd suffered before his death. Not sure if Voldemort would want to check out the body, the couple left Ron as he was as they left the dungeons. After what they'd just done, neither were ready to be around their son, so they headed to Draco's room where they spent a couple of hours coming to terms with the darkest deed that either of them had ever partaken in.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty.**

Hermione stood on the first floor of Malfoy Manor, watching as down below the Death Eaters arrived for the big meeting. Hermione was nervous about the meeting as it would be her first, and it wasn't exactly how she'd always pictured her formal introduction to her father's followers. Hermione had always imagined she would make her grand entrance as the daughter of The Dark Lord after she'd helped deliver victory to the dark side. However, the Order had changed everything the moment they decided to tamper with her memories.

Instead of arriving in a blaze of glory, Hermione's identity had been revealed to her father's Death Eaters just hours before the interview in the Daily Prophet with Bill Weasley was published. Hermione also knew the Death Eaters had been informed of the fact her memories had returned when she'd given birth. However, aside from the Malfoys, whom she knew beforehand and Daphne who wasn't technically a Death Eater, Hermione had met no-one else from the dark side. She had no idea what the Death Eaters thought about her or what sort of welcome she would receive from them.

As she was watching the Death Eaters arrive and gather in the formal dining room at the manor, Hermione was joined by Draco. Her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her waist and settled his chin on her shoulder as he silently observed the Death Eaters down below. He waited until the arrivals died down, and he figured everyone had arrived, before kissing Hermione on the cheek and asking her if she was ready to face her destiny.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Hermione replied, taking a deep breath to hide her nerves.

If it hadn't been for everything that had happened, she wouldn't have even been that nervous, but she knew all the Death Eaters would already have formed opinions on her either based on who they'd thought she was, or what had happened with the Order. What she needed to do was change those opinions and show her father's supporters that she was every inch the daughter of The Dark Lord, and as such she deserved their respect and loyalty.

With her head held high, Hermione walked down the stairs hand in hand with Draco, and without stopping to think about what lay in front of her, she marched into the dining room. Her father was standing at the head of the long table, while almost all the seats were filled with Death Eaters, and those without seats stood smartly against the walls of the large room. Hermione saw Lucius was sitting on her father's right hand side, and at his left side was an empty chair for her. Draco's seat was obviously with his friends half way down the table, and after giving her hand a quick squeeze he headed to his own seat beside Blaise.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my daughter, Hermione," Voldemort announced.

As Hermione began to walk down the room towards her father the Death Eaters began to clap and those who were sitting down rose to their feet. As she passed people they lowered their heads deferentially and Hermione heard several murmurs of 'My Lady'. Finally she reached her father's side and Voldemort ended the applause with a slight incline of his head.

"Do you want to say anything, Hermione?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth as his followers all settled back down and waited to hear what was going to be discussed.

"Thank you for your warm welcome," Hermione said, addressing the room. "I'm sure you've all heard a lot about me, and I'm sure most of you already have an opinion of me. All I ask is that you give me the chance to show you what I'm capable of. I want to prove to you all that I'm a worthy daughter of the great Lord Voldemort."

Voldemort smiled slightly as Hermione finished her speech and slid into the chair he'd saved for her. Like Hermione, he'd hoped her introduction to his Death Eaters had been done differently, but thanks to the Order their plans had been forcibly changed and here they were. But at least Hermione was back at his side where she belonged, and Voldemort was grateful for that every single day.

"Now my daughter is back at my side, I think the time is right to strike and end this war," Voldemort announced. "We all know that The Order of the Phoenix are our main opposition, particularly Dumbledore and Potter. Dumbledore is their leader and Potter is their champion. Once we've destroyed them both, the rest of The Order will eventually fall. Any resistance they mount will be futile and easily dealt with."

"How are we going to get Potter and Dumbledore?" Bellatrix Lestrange questioned. She was one of those seated close to Voldemort, and Hermione knew that she was one of her father's most loyal supporters and would do anything for the cause. "I'm assuming that was what your daughter was supposed to be doing for all these years."

"Yes, I was supposed to deliver Harry to my father when the time came," Hermione said, understanding why Bellatrix, and likely some other Death Eaters, felt as though she hadn't done what her father had wanted while she'd been with the Order. "And if they hadn't drugged me and changed my memories, I would have done just that."

"What was supposed to happen is not important," Voldemort said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let's deal with the here and now. In an ideal world, Hermione's undercover work would have paid off, but it didn't and we're still left with the problem of dealing with Potter and Dumbledore."

"Maybe we should have killed them when they tried to rescue your daughter, before the truth came out," Nott senior said, sounding rather wary of questioning The Dark Lord's tactics.

"At the time I still had some decisions to make about Potter," Voldemort said. "But I've made them now and I'm ready to take him out."

"I don't suppose he's likely to try and rescue your daughter again, is he?" Alecto Carrow asked, not sounding too hopeful.

"I think it's safe to say no-one is going to be trying to rescue Hermione," Voldemort said with a chuckle.

"What about the Weasleys in our possession?" Greengrass asked. "We captured one during their first rescue attempt, and according to the latest letter Astoria sent me from school, the Weasley girl has left because another of her brothers has gone missing."

"Ron Weasley is not missing, he's dead," Hermione announced with a wicked smirk.

"Do the Order know?" Rabastan Lestrange asked. "If not we can still use him to lure them into a trap."

"We will not be using either Weasley to set a trap for the Order," Voldemort announced. "The oldest one is safely relocated out of the country, and as Hermione has just said, the youngest one is dead. Besides, given the fact they lost two of their members in their last rescue mission, I doubt they're going to risk another attempt."

"How about luring them somewhere?" Nott senior suggested. "You could lure Potter into meeting you, thinking he was meeting the young Weasel if he doesn't know he's dead."

"No," Voldemort said with a shake of his head. "We played that trick to get hold of the youngest Weasley. They won't fall for it again."

"Then we're left with an out and out battle of some sort," Rabastan remarked. "But will both Potter and Dumbledore show? If they were smart, they would never both be at the same battle."

"For the time being we don't need both of them, I want Potter first of all," Voldemort said. "And I know exactly how we're going to get him. Lucius, since this was your idea, I'll let you lay out the battle plan."

"Thank you My Lord," Lucius said with an incline of his head as he stood up and Voldemort sat down. "Basically we're going to challenge Potter to a duel. There is one more Hogsmeade weekend before the end of term, and we intend to use Hogsmeade as Potter's final stand."

"Will our children be hurt?" Greengrass asked worriedly. His eldest daughter may have left Hogwarts, but his youngest was still there and he didn't want anything to happen to Astoria.

"No children will be hurt," Lucius said. "But I would advise those with family at Hogwarts to ensure they stay away from Hogsmeade on the day we choose to act."

"So what's the plan?" Bellatrix asked her brother-in-law. "Just cause trouble and hope Potter turns up?"

"No, we're going to wait until Severus had sent word that a few Professors are in The Three Broomsticks and then we're going to hijack the pub. We're going to hold everyone hostage and we will kill one hostage an hour until Potter shows up to face The Dark Lord. As long as there's enough adults in the pub, we won't have to touch any children who also happen to be present."

"Will it work?" Blaise asked quietly. "Will Potter take the bait?"

"Yes," Hermione answered with a nod of her head. It was the first she was hearing of the plan, but she knew it was perfect. "Even if he knows it's a trap and he's likely to die, Harry won't stand back and let us kill innocent people in his name. He'll turn up, I'd bet my life on it."

"Potter might be noble enough to turn up, but will Dumbledore let him?" Rabastan asked. "Unless they think Potter can defeat The Dark Lord, it makes no sense for them to send their saviour into battle."

"You're forgetting how much pressure Dumbledore is under at the moment," Voldemort said. "The press are crucifying him after what he did to Hermione, and he's been removed as headmaster of Hogwarts. Everyone knows he's Potter's mentor, and if Potter fails to turn up and there's a massacre, he'll bear the brunt of the blame. He might not want to risk Potter, but he'll know he has no choice. Potter will face me, or else a whole lot of people will die."

"Say it all goes to plan and you kill Potter, what happens then?" Bellatrix asked. "The Order will turn up with Potter, and even if they stay out of the duel, they'll then fight the second he goes down."

"That is why not all of us are going to be in The Three Broomsticks," Voldemort said. "There will be enough people inside the pub to keep the pub locked down, and the rest will be in Hogsmeade. If there is a battle, we'll be ready and we're going to win. If anyone here doubts that, then they're in the wrong place. Does anyone doubt we can win?"

Unsurprisingly there was no response to Voldemort's question. Even if there were people unsure that they would win and effectively end the war they were smart enough not to voice their concerns. Voldemort seemed confident, therefore all his Death Eaters had to share his confidence and trust that the plan would work.

"Severus, when is the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Voldemort asked.

"It's in two weeks' time," Severus answered.

"So we've got two weeks to get sorted," Voldemort said. "In two weeks' time we will strike and everyone in this room will have a job to do. I'll be in touch over the next few days and speak to you all in person about what will be required of you."

With no further business to discuss, Voldemort dismissed his Death Eaters. As they left most of them nodded respectfully in Voldemort and Hermione's direction. Finally the only people left in the room were Hermione, Voldemort and Lucius. Even Draco had left with his friends, although Hermione knew he was inviting them to stay and have a drink so she could get to know them and they could meet Scorpius.

"What do you think of the plan?" Voldemort asked his daughter.

"I think it's perfect," Hermione replied with a small smile. "There's no way Harry will stand back and let you kill people in his name. He might not want to, but he'll turn up to face you."

"I also want to congratulate you on the job you made with the Weasley boy," Voldemort said, giving his daughter a proud smile. "That was quite some mess you made of him."

"I had help and Draco was pretty angry," Hermione said.

"As he should have been," Lucius said. He'd also seen the mess Ron had been in and he wholeheartedly approved of the castration he'd suffered before his death. "In his position, I would have done the exact same thing."

"What's going to happen to his body?" Hermione asked. Despite everything she thought Ron deserved a burial of some sort and she hoped he wouldn't just be thrown away like rubbish.

"We have two options," Voldemort informed his daughter. "We bury him ourselves and let the Weasleys wonder what happened to him, or we leave his body for them to find. Personally, I'm not bothered either way as all I wanted was him to suffer, and I would say he suffered."

"He did," Hermione confirmed. "And I think the rest of the Order should suffer. Send them back the body and let them see what happened to him. It might make them think about what they did to me and help them see that they were wrong. Not that it matters, as it's too late for repentance. They can never make up for what they've put me through."

"They can't," Voldemort agreed. "But they can and will be punished. We'll do as you ask and deliver the young Weasel back to his family. We'll let you get back to your family, I'm sure your son and boyfriend are waiting for you."

"I'm sure they are," Hermione replied as she gave her father a kiss before heading upstairs to get to know Draco's friends and to introduce them to her amazing son who had returned her to her rightful place at her father's side as the dark prepared to strike the final blow into the heart of the light.


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty One.**

Back with her family where she belonged, time seemed to fly over for Hermione. She was still coming to terms with how she'd treated her family over the last few months but everyone had made it clear that they weren't holding anything she'd said or done against her. After all, it wasn't as if she'd been in her right state of mind since Dumbledore and the Order had drugged her and altered her memories. Even so, Hermione still felt guilty over how she'd cold-shouldered her loved ones and she was doing everything she could to make sure they all knew how much she loved them.

As well as making things up to her family, Hermione was also adjusting to life as a mother. With everything that was going on, it was easy to forget that Hermione had just given birth as she was so active, but even with the plans for revenge on the Order going full steam ahead, Scorpius was still her number one priority. Bonding with her son was a big deal for Hermione, and there were times she would sit holding him for hours, hardly able to believe he was hers.

Thoughts of the future were very much on Hermione's mind, but she knew dealing with the rest of the Order was a must before she could think about moving on with her life. Until her father had gained full control of the wizarding world, she knew their fight wasn't over, and she wanted to help him achieve his goals sooner rather than later. After all, the sooner the light were defeated and her father was in full control, the sooner Hermione and Draco could make firm plans for their future with their son.

Fortunately plans for dealing with the Order were in place and before Hermione knew it, it was time to put their plan into action regarding Harry. Hermione knew Voldemort and Lucius had been assigning jobs to the Death Eaters, and she was confident that everyone would know their place and what they had to do once they arrived at Hogsmeade. She knew Draco was going to be one of those securing The Three Broomsticks, while she would be with her father, waiting for Harry to show.

On the morning in question, Hermione and Draco settled Scorpius with his grandmothers and joined the other Death Eaters about to head to Hogsmeade. The first group would arrive outside of the village, and then once they got word from Severus, they would move and take control of the pub. Once the pub was in the dark's control, the rest of the Death Eaters would appear in the village and a message would be sent to Harry.

"Are you ready?" Voldemort asked his daughter.

He was eager to get the show on the road, but he could see Hermione was nervous. Her presence at his side would tell the world that she was back, with her memories intact. It would also show the Order that despite their best efforts, they had failed. They had failed to keep Hermione in their control, and now they were going to pay for that failure.

"I'm ready," Hermione replied with a determined nod of her head.

"Then it's time," Voldemort announced to his gathered Death Eaters. "Let's move."

A series of distinct popping sounds filled the air and the Death Eaters vanished from their meeting place, only to reassemble a short distance from Hogsmeade. Ever so carefully the group moved towards the village, settling in the hills surrounding Hogsmeade. From there they had a great vantage point of the village, and in particular the pub, but unless anyone headed up the winding track into the hills, they were invisible to the people below.

"What now?" Bellatrix questioned, bouncing impatiently on her toes.

"Now we wait, Bella," Voldemort replied. "Once there's some Professors in the pub, Severus will let us know. My guess is we'll move around lunch time."

Voldemort prediction was spot on and it was a little after twelve when Voldemort received the message from Severus, informing them that a selection of Professors, including himself, were in The Three Broomsticks. With a sharp nod of his head, his followers pulled up the hoods on their robes and slid on their silver masks. They then apparated from their vantage point, right into the heart of the village, causing mayhem and chaos.

Left alone, Voldemort and Hermione silently watched as the Death Eaters made a beeline for the pub. Hermione could see their plan had been thoroughly talked about, and possible even practised, as every single Death Eater knew where to go and what to do. With his cloak and mask on, Hermione couldn't pick out Draco from how he looked, but she knew he was going in the front with Blaise and Theo, and she knew the one giving the orders to his friends was her boyfriend.

"Magnificent," Voldemort exclaimed in pleasure as he watched his Death Eaters effortlessly take control of The Three Broomsticks.

"Are they all set?" Hermione asked, knowing Draco would send a message to her father once he was confident they had full control of the pub.

Voldemort nodded as he felt a surge of energy run through his veins. It was what happened when one of his supporters contacted him via their Dark Mark, like Draco had just done. With The Three Broomsticks secure, Voldemort sent a message to the remainder of his Death Eaters and within seconds the village was swarming with his followers. The Order had also started to arrive, along with reinforcements from Hogwarts, and the battle was beginning in earnest.

"Shall we get down there?" Hermione asked.

"Give it another minute," Voldemort replied, eagerly watching as his followers battled the Order members and their supporters, while the students not caught up in the pub went running back to school.

Hermione watched the scene in the village quietly, mentally running through the opposition. Unsurprisingly there was no sign of Harry, but Dumbledore was in the midst of the action. Sirius was also missing, which was a bit of a surprise, as from Hermione's experience Harry's godfather liked a good fight. There was also a distinct lack of red hair, meaning not all of the Weasleys had shown up. Although with Bill out of the country and Ron dead, they were down two before they started. Still, by Hermione's observations Ginny was nowhere to be seen, and neither were the twins. She guessed she could understand why Ginny wasn't there as Molly could be pretty protective of her only daughter, and was likely even more protective after losing Ron, but Hermione was genuinely surprised that the twins were a no-show. Although if they'd stayed away because they disagreed with what the Order, and their parents, had done to her, Hermione wouldn't complain as she liked the twins and would love it if she could persuade her father that they didn't need to be dealt with in the same way as their family.

"Let's go," Voldemort announced, gently taking hold of his daughter's arm.

Even though she was more than capable of apparating herself, Hermione let her father take control as he whisked them away from the hills they were standing in and right into the heart of the village. Voldemort had clearly cast protection spells on them as he did so, as they arrived in the midst of a pale blue bubble and none of the spells flying around penetrated the bubble.

"Enough!" Voldemort bellowed and instantly all the Death Eaters stopped fighting and regathered in a group behind The Dark Lord and his daughter.

"Tom," Dumbledore said gravely as the Order began to gather behind him. "Hermione," he added quietly, spotting the girl at Voldemort's side.

"Headmaster," Hermione returned with a cold smile that left no doubt in anyone's mind that she was back to her normal self and was no longer under the influence of the potion Dumbledore had given her.

"She's back," Molly whispered in a broken voice.

"Yes Molly, I am," Hermione replied, turning towards the plump witch and wincing at how bad she looked. It was clear that she hadn't been sleeping, or taking care of herself, and she looked half dead before anyone had even touched her.

"It's not possible," Arthur muttered from beside his wife.

"I assure you that it is possible," Hermione said. "But let's not go into details now. We've got things to be doing."

"Indeed we do," Voldemort announced with a nod of his head. "As you can see, we've got control of The Three Broomsticks and inside are dozens of hostages. I want Harry Potter here, and I want to duel him one on one. For every thirty minutes he doesn't show, we'll kill a hostage. When he does show, we will fight one on one, and if anyone does interfere in our battle, we'll kill a hostage."

"But there's children in that pub," Dumbledore argued. "Even you wouldn't kill children, Tom."

"There are more than enough adults to begin proceedings with," Voldemort replied with a shrug. "The only way any student will die is if Potter fails to show. And just in case you think we're bluffing, let's have an example of our intent."

No sooner had Voldemort finished talking than the doors to The Three Broomsticks opened and a sobbing Professor Sinistra shuffled out of the pub, a Death Eater following her holding their wand to her head. Before anyone in the Order could even think about trying to save her, the Death Eater pushed Sinistra away from them and blasted her with a jet of green light. As Sinistra crumpled to the ground, completely and utterly dead, the Death Eater stepped back into the pub and closed the door behind them.

"Your time starts now, Albus," Voldemort announced. "Get Potter here, or more people will follow your Astronomy Professor to their graves. You've got thirty minutes before we kill the next hostage."

Taking hold of Hermione's arm again, Voldemort apparated them clear of the village and back into the hills. Down below the Death Eaters settled themselves around the pub to fend off any attack from the Order and their supporters. It was no surprise that some people began to fight back almost immediately, but both Voldemort and Hermione noticed that Dumbledore and a few of his closest followers backed away from the scene and began to converse among themselves.

"How long do you think it will take?" Voldemort asked his daughter as Dumbledore vanished into thin air, presumably to get Harry.

"Not long, I'll be surprised if we have to kill another hostage," Hermione replied.

"Let's see, shall we?" Voldemort chuckled, watching the action as he waited for either Harry to appear, or for half an hour to elapse.

* * *

Harry lay motionless on his bed, staring unseeingly at the wall in front of him. He was broken, his heart was shattered and he'd lost all of his fight. Ten days ago the worst possible thing had happened – they got confirmation that Ron was indeed dead. Molly and Arthur had been woken in the early hours of the morning as the wards around The Burrow had been breached, and when they went to investigate they'd found Ron's body. Only Ron hadn't just been killed, he'd been tortured before his death and worst of all, he'd been castrated. The castration was a clear message from the dark, and everyone knew it. Ron hadn't just been killed for his part in what had happened to Hermione, he'd been thoroughly punished for it.

The discovery of Ron's body had led to a distinct division among the Weasleys. Things hadn't exactly been great since the truth about Hermione had emerged, but Ron's brutal death had been the final straw for Ginny and the twins. Blaming her parents for causing Ron's death, and in her opinion supporting her brother as he turned into a rapist, Ginny had moved in with the twins and the trio were currently refusing to see any of their family. They also wouldn't see Harry, not that he could blame them as he was full of guilt for what had happened to Ron.

Not only was Harry feeling guilty about Ron being taken in the first place, as he should have been with him, but he was feeling guilty for getting involved with Dumbledore's mad scheme in the first place. For the first time in his life, Harry hated Dumbledore almost as much as he hated Voldemort and Hermione. If it hadn't been for the headmaster and his crazy idea, Ron might still be with them. Kidnapping the daughter of The Dark Lord was always going to be risky, but they'd made it worse by drugging her and altering her memories. Harry could now see that what they really should have done was throw Hermione out on her ear once they knew the truth. After all, it wasn't as if she'd had anything else to tell her father as she'd clearly been feeding him information for years. She couldn't have hurt them anymore than she already had, but by doing what they'd done, they'd only increased the ferociousness in which the dark had come after them.

Since Ron's body had been discovered, Harry hadn't spoken to the headmaster and he had no intention of changing that anytime soon. Deep down he knew that the fight had to go on and he needed to find a way to defeat Voldemort, but at the moment he was fairly ambivalent towards the war that was being raged all around him. His best friend was dead, and at this moment in time, it was all that really mattered to Harry. He couldn't have cared less what else was going on, all he cared about was Ron, and the fact he'd never see him again.

With his mind full of Ron, Harry failed to hear footsteps coming up the stairs towards him. He didn't even notice his bedroom door creeping open. It wasn't until Sirius gently sat down on the bed beside him that Harry realised he wasn't alone.

"Go away," he muttered to his godfather. He knew Sirius understood what he was going through as he'd also lost his best friend when Remus was killed during the botched attempt to rescue Hermione.

"I wish I could leave you to your grief, but we've got an emergency," Sirius said gently.

"Sod the emergency," Harry spat. "Let Dumbledore sort it. He created this mess, he can clean it up."

"I think we all deserve to shoulder some of the blame," Sirius said. "We all agreed to his plan."

"And even if we hadn't, he would have done it anyway," Harry argued. "The man's a fool, an incompetent old fool."

"I daresay you're right, Harry," Dumbledore's voice said quietly from the doorway. "In hindsight, I would do a lot differently in regards to Hermione. Especially as my plan failed anyway. She's back."

"What do you mean she's back?" Harry asked, turning around to face Dumbledore.

"I've just seen her, and she's got her memories back."

"How is that possible?" Sirius asked. "You said the potion you gave her was permanent."

"It was," Dumbledore answered. "She's either received an antidote from somewhere, or something else went wrong. But that isn't important right now."

"Of course it's important," Harry exploded as he jumped off the bed. "If she's back, that makes her a danger. It was probably her that castrated Ron."

"Maybe it was, but we've got bigger problems right now," Dumbledore said smoothly. "The Death Eaters are in Hogsmeade and they're holding hostages in The Three Broomsticks."

"Hostages?" Harry questioned with a frown. "Since when do they take hostages?"

"Since Voldemort wants to face you in a one on one duel," Dumbledore answered sombrely.

"No way," Harry spat, vehemently shaking his head. "We know I can't defeat him yet. I'd die if I faced him."

"Yes," Dumbledore replied quietly. "But he's threatening to kill the hostages every half hour until you turn up."

"Maybe he's bluffing," Sirius suggested, desperate to find a solution that didn't result in his godson facing a wizard he had no way of defeating.

"He's not," Dumbledore said sadly. "He's already killed Aurora Sinistra. There's also four more Professors in there, not to mention all the students. It could be a massacre."

"And it could be Harry's death if he goes to Hogsmeade," Sirius snapped.

"Don't you think I know that," Dumbledore yelled back, losing his cool. "If there was any other way, I would be taking it. I don't want Harry to face him, but what choice do we have? If Harry fails to turn up, more people will be killed. Their blood will be on our hands."

"No, their blood will be on Voldemort's hands," Sirius sneered.

"Dumbledore's right," Harry whispered as a sense of calm washed over him. He knew he now only had hours to live, but rather than being scared, he felt resignation at his fate. "I could never live with myself if more people died because of me. I have to go and face him."

"But you'll die," Sirius whispered, grabbing hold of his godson and giving him a hard shake. "Do you want to die, Harry?"

"Of course not, but what choice do I have?" Harry retorted. "In my shoes you would do the same thing, Sirius."

"But you're so young," Sirius whispered, tears glistening in his dark eyes. "I should be able to protect you."

"No-one can protect me," Harry whispered. "But you can honour me by making sure you defeat Voldemort and Hermione once I'm gone. Don't give up and let them take charge. Fight them Sirius, promise me."

"I promise," Sirius whispered in a hoarse voice as he embraced his godson.

In Sirius's arms, Harry let his tears flow as he accepted his fate. Sirius also had a good cry, but finally the two wizards had to separate and face up to what was going to happen. Like it or not, Harry was going to have to face Voldemort in battle, and at the moment there was no way he could win the fight. He was a dead man walking, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight, and maybe if he was lucky he would seriously harm Voldemort, or better yet his daughter, on the way down.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty Two.**

As the half hour mark approached, Hermione and Voldemort shared a surprised look as they stood overlooking Hogsmeade. The Order's lacklustre attempts to get into The Three Broomsticks had dwindled away to nothing as the time had passed. They were still down in the village, as were the Death Eaters, but it was a definite stale mate and it was now looking that people were just waiting around to see if Harry turned up. To be honest Hermione had expected him long before now, and she was surprised that it was reaching time to kill another hostage and he was still a no-show.

"It's beginning to look as though he's not coming," Voldemort remarked. "Or at least he's not coming in time to save the next hostage."

"I just hope the Order haven't got anything up their sleeves," Hermione muttered. After her years of being friends with Harry she thought she could predict his actions, but currently he was well and truly taking her by surprise by staying away from Hogsmeade.

"What could they possibly have planned?" Voldemort asked his daughter. "Not only have we taken them by surprise, but we know they haven't destroyed all my Horcruxes. Whatever happens today, I can't be killed."

"But other people can," Hermione whispered. "I can."

"It won't happen," Voldemort said fiercely as he gently stroked his daughter's cheek. "I won't let anything happen to you, and neither will Draco. Just look at the lengths we went to in order to get you back over the summer. We will protect you, Hermione."

"I know, but this waiting it making me nervous," Hermione admitted.

"Let's wait no more," Voldemort said. "It's almost time. Let's get back down to the village and see who our next victim is."

Hoping that some action might alleviate her nerves, Hermione allowed her father to apparate them both down to the village, where he once again kept them in a protective circle. When they landed in the village, the Order surged forward to attack, but they found themselves repelled by the force field Voldemort had erected around himself and his daughter. Instead they were forced to stay a decent distance away from the dark as they watched the pair prepare for the next stage of their plan.

Exactly one minute before the half hour deadline, the doors to The Three Broomsticks opened and a Death Eater, whom Hermione knew was Draco, dragged out the second hostage. This time Draco had picked Hogwarts flying instructor, Madam Hooch. The witch had a split lip as though someone had backhanded her for being disobedient. Although to be fair, Hermione couldn't really blame Madam Hooch for trying to fight back as unless Harry showed up in the next sixty seconds she was being led to her death.

"Looks like your big hero isn't as heroic after all," Voldemort mocked the assembled Order members. "Where's Potter when you need him? He could stop all this, yet he's hiding away. How many people will he let die before he comes to face me?"

Hermione watched as the Order glanced among themselves, seemingly looking for reassurance that Harry would turn up and that he hadn't abandoned them. However, Hermione could see a few of them were seriously worried, and they were starting to believe they were on their own against her father.

Voldemort had also seen the reaction of the Order and he couldn't help but chuckle loudly as he strode over to where Draco was standing and pulled Madam Hooch from his arms. Digging his wand into her throat, he led her towards the Order and forced her to her knees in front of him.

"Stop," a voice suddenly called just as Voldemort took a breath and was about to end Madam Hooch's life. "You wanted me, so here I am," Harry cried as the Order parted to allow him to walk towards Voldemort, flanked by Dumbledore and Sirius.

"You're cutting it fine, Potter," Voldemort replied, not removing his wand from Madam Hooch's vicinity. "It's been exactly thirty minutes since I called for you. A second later and you would have had more blood on your hands."

"The blood is on your hands, not mine," Harry retorted. "I haven't killed anyone."

"No, you've just been involved in mind alteration and rape," Voldemort sneered. "Do you want to explain how that's better?"

"It's not," Harry answered, his attention switching to Hermione who was standing a little way behind her father. "I wish more than anything that I had stopped what happened to you, Hermione. It doesn't matter what you've done or who you are, you didn't deserve what we did to you. It's unforgivable."

"Yes, it is," Hermione agreed. She was rather taken aback by Harry's confession, but at the same time his genuineness touched her and she decided to make one of her own. "But I know all about doing unforgivable things. I lied to you for seven years, and I was planning on leading you to your death, and I feel no remorse for that. I can't forgive you for what you let Dumbledore do to me, but I can understand why you did it. I was a threat, and you were trying to neutralize me."

"Yet all we did was cause more trouble," Harry said with a wistful sigh. "I wish things didn't have to be this way, Hermione."

"So do I, Harry," Hermione replied with a sad smile. "But we were born enemies. With our families we were always going to be on opposite sides of the war. We both couldn't win."

"You haven't won yet," Harry pointed out.

"It's a mere formality," Hermione retorted with a casual shrug of her shoulders. "We both know you're here to die."

"Maybe, but I won't go down without a fight," Harry warned.

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you," Hermione replied.

"And my death won't end this war," Harry added. "The Order and its followers will continue to fight."

"Then they will die," Voldemort said. "Let me make this clear right from the start. After the duel with Potter, anyone who continues to fight will be treated as the enemy. However, anyone who backs off and leaves us alone will be left to live their life in peace. No-one will be punished for anything they've done before today. I suggest people choose wisely before they think about continuing a war they can't win."

"Never," Sirius hissed. "I will fight until my dying day."

"In that case, I don't see you living very long," Voldemort drawled. "But enough of the chit-chat. Are you ready Potter?"

"As soon as you let Madam Hooch go," Harry replied.

"Oh, I'd forgotten all about her," Voldemort chuckled, pushing the witch at his feet away from him and watching as she scrabbled to safety. "Everyone knows the rules of a wizarding duel, I expect a clean fight with no interference from outside forces."

"Yours as well as mine," Harry said, gesturing to Hermione and the Death Eaters that stood nearby.

"Of course," Voldemort replied with a slight nod of his head before turning to his daughter. "Stand back Hermione. And no-one else is to interfere."

"Yes My Lord," the Death Eaters said in unison as Hermione stepped back to stand beside Draco, who removed his mask and lowered his hood for a better view of the action.

As the Death Eaters backed off, so did Dumbledore and Sirius. However, Molly rushed forward and gathering Harry in her arms she begged him not to go through with the fight.

"I have to do this, Molly," Harry said gently. "For Ron, and for Remus, and Bill, and everyone else who've lost their lives."

"But you'll be killed," Molly sobbed. "I've already lost two sons, I can't lose another one."

Biting back his tears, Harry gave Molly a fierce hug and telling her how much he loved her, he handed her over to Arthur, who'd stepped forward to deal with his wife. Taking one final look at the assembled Order and their supporters he uttered a thank you to them all before turning back to face Voldemort for the final time.

"How touching," Voldemort sneered as he dropped the protective barrier that had been preventing the Order getting too close to his daughter.

"Enough with the talking," Harry snapped. "Are we going to fight, or not?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Voldemort returned, before firing a quick stinging hex towards Harry.

Harry was quick on his feet and dodged the hex, firing a one of his own as he did so. As promised, he wasn't going to go down without a fight and everyone could see that. Initially Voldemort looked a bit shell-shocked by how well Harry was fighting, but he battled through the shock and started to treat Harry as a threat, rather than an annoying teenager whom he felt he could squish like a bug.

Watching the battle, Hermione was itching to join the fray and looking around she could see other people were the same. However, terms had been set and neither she nor the other Death Eaters would break them. Not only were they dealing with Harry for the final time, but they were showing the wider wizarding world that they were true to their word. Just as after the battle they wouldn't go after anyone who chose to stop fighting, even if it did prove tempting to rid the world of all their opposition. From now on they would only fight those who fought against them, although Hermione suspected that would still be a decent portion of Wizarding Britain as she doubted everyone was going to be happy to roll over and let the dark win.

"Potter's better than I thought," Draco muttered to Hermione, a frown marring his handsome features.

"He is good," Hermione agreed. But then again, she already knew that when it came to fighting, Harry had good instincts and wasn't to be underestimated.

Hermione was just pleased that her father had listened to what she'd had to say about Harry and hadn't underestimated his enemy. She'd always feared that when the time came, Voldemort would dismiss Harry as a threat and go into battle feeling as though he would easily emerge as the victor. However, her father may have been confident going into the battle, but he wasn't taking anything for granted. He was treating Harry as a threat, and he knew he had to be on top form to dispatch the boy who had been a thorn in his side for so long.

As the fighting continued, Hermione watched as parts of the Order began to look hopeful that Harry could pull off a victory. Clearly they had no idea about her father's Horcruxes and that Harry could fight all day and still not kill Voldemort. For those who did know about the Horcruxes, they were watching with trepidation as they knew no matter how good a fight Harry was putting up, he was ultimately fighting a losing battle. He was going to die, it was just a matter of how long it took to happen.

To give Harry credit, he was making Voldemort work for his victory and he'd managed to hit the dark wizard with more than a few nasty hexes. As the battle time approached twenty minutes both Harry and Voldemort were bleeding from various injuries, but they were still battering at each other's defences. Twice Harry managed to knock Voldemort off his feet, but he just couldn't press on his advantage and Voldemort kept coming back stronger and fiercer. While Voldemort looked to be getting stronger as the battle continued, Harry slowly began to flag and his reflexes began to slow.

"This is it," Hermione whispered to Draco, clutching at his hand as Harry stumbled slightly for the second time in as many minutes.

Sensing his opponent was weakening, Voldemort bombarded Harry with curse after curse. As Harry struggled to keep up with the speed at which the dark wizard was fighting, Voldemort pushed his advantage and a third stumble was all he needed to round on Harry and deliver a blast of green light to his midriff, all the while bellowing the incantation of the killing curse.

"No!" Molly Weasley screamed in anguish as Harry's prone body fell to the floor.

Molly's cry was the only sound for a couple of seconds, before all hell broke loose. As the shock of Harry's death reverberated around Hogsmeade, the Order attacked with gusto. However, the Death Eaters were prepared and they met the Order head on. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw that both Sirius and Dumbledore made a beeline for her father. Not that she was worried as she knew he couldn't be killed, and he was more than capable of handling the pair of them with the help of his Death Eaters, including those inside the pub who had all streamed outside the moment the Order attacked.

The thought of joining in the battle was tempting for Hermione, but she had a job to do. With Draco at her side she rushed over to where Harry had fallen and knelt down beside his lifeless body. However, she hadn't even had a chance to check his pulse when a shot of green light flew over her shoulder and she turned to see a wailing Molly coming running towards her.

"Get away from my son, you bitch," Molly screamed.

"He's not your son, Molly," Hermione shot back.

"Murderer!" Molly yelled. "Evil bitch. I'm going to kill you."

"I don't think so," Draco spat, raising his own wand and shooting a spell at Molly which hit her square in the stomach, blasted her off her feet and sent her flying into a nearby wall. Molly hit off the wall with a dull thud and her body slowly slumped to the ground.

"Is she dead?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, and right now I don't care," Draco answered. "Let's get Potter and go."

"No," Hermione said with a shake of his head.

"What do you mean no?" Draco hissed. "The plan was decided upon. We're going to take Potter back to the manor and kill him there."

"No, I'm going to do it here," Hermione replied. "I have no desire to torture him as we did with Ron. Let's end this here and now."

"And what about your father?" Draco asked.

"He'll understand," Hermione said quietly. "Keep watch and don't let anyone sneak up on me."

Knowing Draco would protect her, Hermione turned her attention back to Harry. Feeling for a pulse she found a very faint one and settled in to wait for it to get stronger. Ever so slowly she saw Harry's breathing pick up, before his green eyes fluttered open.

"Hermione," he whispered, clearly not fully aware of what had happened and far too weak to get to his feet.

"I'm sorry Harry, it has to be like this," Hermione replied in a quiet voice as she pressed her wand against Harry's temple. "Avada Kedavra."

For the second time that afternoon Harry was hit by a jolt of green light, only this time it ended his life completely. Placing a protection spell over Harry's body, so that it wouldn't suffer in the battle and could later be buried with dignity, Hermione rose to her feet and together with Draco they joined the fray in what would hopefully be the last big battle in the second wizarding war.


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty Three.**

Following Harry's death, the battle of Hogsmeade became an out and out fight to the death. Some people vanished shortly after Harry's death, either because they were scared or because they remembered Voldemort's vow before the battle with Harry and hoped that by leaving Hogsmeade they wouldn't be targeted by the dark. However, even with people fleeing there were still a decent number of people fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Once she'd dealt with Harry, Hermione took the time to search for her father and see how he was handling things. She found him deep in battle with Dumbledore, with Lucius, Severus and Bellatrix all fighting beside him and in easy reach in case he needed help. Sirius was among the people fighting Severus, Lucius and Bellatrix and from what Hermione could see he looked to be the one posing the more dangerous threat. There was a fire in him she'd never seen before and she suspected that after losing Harry there wasn't anything Sirius would do to avenge his godson's death.

Not that Hermione had too much time to focus on the threat Sirius posed as there were other threats to take care of. Before she knew where she was at, she found herself fighting the people she'd once stood alongside, albeit she'd never truly been on the light side. Throughout the fighting, Draco stayed at her side and several times he intervened even when Hermione had things under control. Usually she would have scolded her boyfriend for fighting her battles for her when she was perfectly capable of looking after herself, but given everything they'd been through just lately she could understand why Draco was being overprotective.

As the battle continued it became clear that the dark forces were overwhelming the opposition. People continued to flee from the village in the midst of the fighting as it became clear that the dark weren't going to be defeated. Still, as long as Dumbledore fought on, the core of the remaining Order remained and they fought with everything they had. Unfortunately, Dumbledore was nowhere near to throwing in the towel and even though he must have known he couldn't defeat Voldemort, he kept battling him.

"This could go on forever," Draco muttered to Hermione as the people they'd been fighting turned and fled in defeat.

"Tell me about it," Hermione replied, looking over to where her father was still going toe to toe with Dumbledore. To be honest it was Voldemort who looked to be in more trouble as he'd already been injured during his fight with Harry.

"Should we retreat?" Draco questioned, warily keeping an eye out for another attack, although all the Order members who'd stayed to fight were all busy with other Death Eaters.

"It's not our call," Hermione answered.

She was trying to decide what she would do in her father's place, but she wasn't sure. On one hand, retreating could be advisable. They'd already killed Harry, a lot of people had fled the village and retreating would avoid any more casualties as a few Death Eaters had lost their lives. However, leaving would give the Order time to regroup, and as long as Dumbledore was alive, they had someone to rally around. Granted Dumbledore was tainted these days after what he'd done to Hermione, but surviving a battle like this could be just what he needed to gain some fresh supporters.

"Should we try and get over to your father?" Draco asked.

"No, let's leave it," Hermione replied with a shake of her head. "I don't think he's going anywhere until he's killed Dumbledore. It's too dangerous to leave him alive now."

"He did say he and Potter didn't need to be taken out at the same battle," Draco pointed out. "Maybe it's wiser to back off and come up with a fresh plan for Dumbledore."

"And risk Dumbledore gaining more supporters? I don't think so," Hermione retorted.

"Would he though? All but his most faithful supports have left him. I don't even see any Weasleys anymore."

Looking around the groups of people still fighting, Hermione saw that Draco was right and there was no longer any redheads at the battle. Molly had gone, along with Harry's body and there was no sign of Arthur, Charlie or Percy. As she'd noticed before, the twins and Ginny hadn't turned up at the battle, but Hermione had definitely seen Arthur, Charlie and Percy. However, they were now all gone and since Hermione hadn't seen any of them leave she had no idea if they'd fled or just started taking the injured and dead to safety.

"His fighting forces might be a bit thin on the ground, but he could regroup if given time," Hermione said. "I think now he's battling father, it's unwise to let him go."

"In that case, I suggest we make sure we're in a position to help your father if he needs it," Draco suggested. "After all, he did have a pretty hard fight with Potter."

Hermione gave her boyfriend a quick nod and the pair positioned themselves closer to her father. Around Voldemort there was more action and they soon found themselves in battle yet again. Caught up in her own fight, this time with her former Transfiguration Professor, McGonagall, Hermione lost track of her father and it was only Bellatrix's shocked cry that alerted her to trouble. Trusting that Draco would deal with McGonagall, Hermione spun around just in time to witness Dumbledore blast her father through one of the only remaining unbroken shop windows. Or at least it was unbroken until her father went flying through it head first.

Despite knowing her father couldn't killed, Hermione was not going to let Dumbledore have the chance to do anything to him and with a low cry, she charged at the old headmaster. Dumbledore had been too preoccupied with Voldemort to notice Hermione running in his direction, and it was just be sheer chance that he moved as Hermione shot the killing curse at his back. The curse shot over his shoulder, but it alerted Dumbledore that he had more to deal with that Voldemort and he spun around to face Hermione.

"Things don't have to be this way," Dumbledore said, cautiously moving so that he wasn't in between Voldemort and his daughter. "I know you're a good person, Hermione."

"Where did you get that from?" Hermione laughed. "Was is the years of lying? Or was it the fact that as soon as I got my memory back, I made Ron suffer for what he did to me? Tell me Professor, what makes you think that I'm good?"

"The part you played for us all these years, I don't believe it was all an act," Dumbledore said. "I believe that is who you truly are under all the hate and anger you've been brought up with. I can help you unlock that part of you, Hermione. I can help you leave the darkness behind."

"You know nothing of leaving darkness behind," Hermione sneered. "After all, you're just as dark as my father and I."

"I am nothing like your father," Dumbledore spat.

"So you think that slipping me a potion to subdue my real memories, placing me in a relationship with a wizard you knew was not the man I loved, and then keeping me a prisoner were the actions of a good man?" Hermione questioned. "It's twisted, and I doubt even my father could have thought of that. Face it Professor, there's a darkness in your soul that I'm not sure my family could ever match. You wear one face in public, but behind the mask you're pure evil."

"And you're merely a confused young girl, twisted by the rantings of a mad man," Dumbledore retorted. "Do you really believe in what your father is fighting for? Do you want to live in a world where muggleborns are outlawed and anyone disobeying your father's word is punished? He's a dictator, Hermione, and you're smart enough to know that a dictator like him will always have enemies."

"And we will always defeat our enemies," Hermione replied with confidence. "And as for my father being a dictator, you have no idea what he's got planned for our world."

"I know exactly what he's got planned," Dumbledore snorted. "He's going to get rid of the muggleborns, and make his word the law. He'll control everything and everyone and sooner or later our entire world will collapse and our magical heritage he's so passionate about protecting will have been destroyed."

"You know, maybe things wouldn't have gotten this far if you'd bothered to find out what my father truly wants to do with our world," Hermione said, spotting Draco helping her father to his feet out of the corner of her eye. "He may have started out wanting to rid the world of muggleborns, but he's a smart man and it didn't take him long to realise that would lead to the death of magical people in this country. He may have still used the mudblood argument to gain supporters amongst certain purebloods, but anyone with any knowledge of my father knows that's not his plan any more. He merely wants to regulate the wizarding world and its population, and to protect our world from muggles. You never know, when people find out how much safer our world is going to be they might even welcome us taking charge. There's a good chance they'll not even mourn you or Harry."

"I'm not dead yet, so there's no need to mourn me," Dumbledore said.

"As you said, you're not dead yet," Hermione retorted with a shrug. "But you soon will be."

Aware that her father and Draco were poised and ready to strike, Hermione ended their conversation by hurling a stinging hex at Dumbledore. Dumbledore returned fire with a hex of his own and within seconds the pair were engaged in a fiery battle. However, Hermione knew she had back-up in her boyfriend and father and she knew both wizards were just waiting to pounce.

Pounce they did a few minutes later and Dumbledore found himself facing three opponents at the same time. As experienced as Dumbledore was, he was still an older wizard and he just didn't have the reflexes to deal with the trio at once. It meant he was hit with more spells than he could throw, and when Draco sent a spell that sliced the top of his index finger off, he dropped his wand in shock.

"Looks like we've got you beat," Voldemort crowed. "Goodbye old man. Avada Kedavra."

The jet of light hit Dumbledore squarely in the ribs and the old man tumbled to the ground. Voldemort took one look at his age old enemy, before turning and surveying the village. Battles were still going on in certain places, but several people had stopped at the sight of Dumbledore meeting his maker. It also looked as though yet more people had fled the village.

Deciding that no-one else posed any real threat, not even Sirius who was still battling hard despite his left arm hanging at an awkward angle at his side, Voldemort gave the sign for his Death Eaters to retreat. Immediately plumes of black smoke rose in the village as the Death Eaters obeyed their master and vanished from the scene of the crime. After making sure Hermione had left alongside Draco, Voldemort raised his wand to the sky and cast the dark mark into the air. With his mark now hovering over Hogsmeade, he then apparated back to Malfoy Manor.

When Voldemort arrived, Malfoy Manor was a hive of activity as the Death Eaters returned for a debriefing. Narcissa and Adele were on hand to tend to the wounded, and Lucius and Severus were checking just how many people they'd lost. Finding his daughter, Voldemort took Hermione into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm so proud of you," he muttered. "You were great today."

"No, you were great," Hermione replied. "You've defeated both of our enemies today. With Harry and Dumbledore gone, the Order are no threat."

"I wouldn't say that," Voldemort remarked. "Black was still alive, and I think some Weasleys survived."

"Sirius is reckless, and no leader," Hermione said. "Sooner rather than later he'll attack us and if we're ready for him, we'll be able to take him out. As for the Weasleys, I'm not sure how much of a threat they are. Ron's dead and Bill's in another country with no memories of his family. The twins and Ginny were a no-show at the village and Percy is too concerned with self-preservation to really put up a fight. Draco hurt Molly in the fight, and I don't know if she lived, and Arthur will just do as she says so if she is dead, he'll be lost. I will conceded that Charlie could prove problematic, but then again, he might choose to leave us alone when everything dies down. For the moment, I don't think we've got anything to fear."

"Let's hope not," Voldemort said. "You did deal with Potter, didn't you? I can't recall you leaving the village."

"I didn't," Hermione answered. "I know we'd talked about bringing him here and making him suffer before he died, but I changed my mind. Ron suffered, and Harry would have suffered knowing what we'd done to him. I had mercy and killed him before he was even fully aware he was back."

"As long as he's dead," Voldemort replied with a shrug. Personally he would have gone down the torture route with Harry, but he understood where his daughter was coming from.

"He is," Hermione reassured her father. "Harry's dead and we've won. No-one can stop us from taking complete control of the wizarding world."

"Maybe in the morning, right now I'm an old man who needs his bed," Voldemort joked.

"You'll never be old," Hermione replied sweetly as she hugged her father.

Together father and daughter gathered the Death Eaters and thanked them for their support. After a quick debrief, everyone went their separate ways and Hermione found herself standing in Scorpius's nursery, watching her sleeping son as Draco crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper.

"Perfect," Hermione replied, smiling at the sight of her son and at the feeling of being in Draco's strong embrace. "I can't believe how close I came to losing all of this," she confessed in a small voice. "If Dumbledore had gotten his way, I wouldn't be standing here. I would have fought against everyone I love."

"I would have fought for you," Draco replied gently.

"You did," Hermione reminded him as she turned around in his arms. "I'll never forget how you fought for me. You never gave up on me, even when I was so horrible to you."

"I would never give up on you," Draco whispered, brushing his lips against Hermione's. "We belong together."

"Yes, we do," Hermione agreed.

Giving her boyfriend a deep kiss, Hermione quietly led him from their son's nursery and into their room. Falling onto the bed the couple made love for the first time since Scorpius's birth, despite the fact they were both exhausted from their day in Hogsmeade. Between the fighting and the sex they were soon tired, and satisfied that Voldemort was finally on the verge of gaining control of the wizarding world, they feel into a contented sleep.


	35. Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

 **Nine Months Later.**

Sitting in her father's home office, Hermione settled herself behind his desk to look through the papers he'd wanted her to see. The papers were all about new legislation that he was planning on pushing through at the Ministry. It would be the first major changes to the wizarding world since the battle of Hogsmeade nine months ago, and Voldemort wanted Hermione's opinions on whether or not he was pushing too hard, too fast, or whether he was taking things too slowly.

Following the battle of Hogsmeade the wizarding world had all but ground to a halt as they'd waited with baited breath to see what would happen next. With both Harry and Dumbledore dead there was no-one to really lead the resistance and it was very simple for Voldemort to take over the Ministry. Now every single high ranking official at the Ministry, including the Minister himself, was a Death Eater or someone who supported the dark's causes. Although the Ministry wasn't the only places changes had been made. Severus had been given the job as headmaster at Hogwarts, and a large portion of the staff had been replaced.

Even with the changes of power, Voldemort hadn't yet introduced any major new laws. He'd set out his plans weeks after taking charge, and surprisingly the majority of the population were content to wait and see what happened. More than half of the population even expressed their approval when Voldemort announced that the main thing he wanted to do was separate the wizarding world from the muggle world. He was adamant that the muggles had too much knowledge of the magical world and he was determined to cut down the connection between the two worlds. Of course his plans would affect muggleborns more than anyone else, but Voldemort was adamant that if a muggleborn entered the wizarding world and wished to stay a part of it, they would have to be prepared to cut off their old life as a muggle. In his option you could either be magical or a muggle, he didn't want people flitting between the two worlds and endangering the entire population.

Not that everything had been peaceful as the dark took control of the Ministry. There were those who still tried to fight, and even now there were still pockets of resistance that needed dealing with. However, the big rebellion had come a little over a month after the battle of Hogsmeade, led by Sirius Black.

As Hermione had predicted, Sirius was reckless in his attempts to stop Voldemort and rather than regrouping what was left of the Order and coming up with a solid plan to defeat the dark, he launched a foolish attack on the Ministry. Together with a small band of supporters he stormed the Ministry while Voldemort was present discussing the new regime with the press. Sadly for Sirius, Voldemort wasn't a fool and there were more than enough Death Eaters around to subdue the protesters and throw them into holding cells down in the Department of Mysteries.

Sirius was one of those thrown into a cell, but when one of her father's men went to lay formal charges against him, he was discovered dead in his cell. Officially, the Ministry announced that Sirius had killed himself, unable to face spending the rest of his life in Azkaban. However, Hermione knew that her father had gotten to him and eliminated the threat he posed.

With Sirius out of the way, the Weasleys were the next in line to take over the fight against Voldemort, however they were a shadow of the family they once were and only Charlie still posed any sort of threat these days. Following their no-show at the battle in Hogsmeade, Fred, George and Ginny had continued to distance themselves from their family. Hermione suspected that they didn't like that her father had taken control, but the actions of the Order, and in particularly certain parts of their family, had lessened their desire to fight the dark forces and for the moment they seemed content to just get on with their lives. Percy, as expected, put himself before his family and he publically announced his support of the new regime at the Ministry and seemed perfectly content working alongside his new boss, who was a Death Eater.

Arthur was also no longer a threat as he was a broken man following the final battle. It turned out, Molly had suffered a fractured skull when Draco had thrown her into the wall and she'd been in a coma for nearly two months following the battle before passing away without ever regaining consciousness. Between losing Molly and Ron, and not knowing what had happened to Bill, Arthur retreated into himself and no-one outside the family had seen him for months now. He was a hermit, never leaving the family home, and any fight he may have possessed had died with his wife.

Dragging her thoughts away from events of the last few months, Hermione turned her focus back to the pages in front of her. She studied the new legislation her father wanted to pass for nearly ten minutes before she was distracted by her son giggling happily. Turning around she smiled at the sight of Scorpius sitting on the rug in front of the fire playing with her father.

At just over ten months, Scorpius was full of energy and needed watching every minute. At the moment he was going through a phase of putting anything and everything into his mouth to suck. Currently he was gnawing at a wooden building block he was supposed to be playing with. He could also crawl at a rapid speed, he used anything to pull himself to his feet and Hermione was sure he was about to take his first steps.

Hermione was also fairly sure he was on the verge of saying his first word, and she had a bet with her boyfriend as to what they would be. Draco was convinced his first words would be 'dada', and he spent hours coaching his son to say his name, while Hermione was hoping her son's first words would be 'mama', and like Draco she'd been urging him to say her name first. However, their son was stubborn and even though it seemed as though he was ready to talk, he'd kept them both in suspense for several weeks now.

"You don't look to be getting very far," Voldemort remarked, looking up and finding his daughter watching him and Scorpius.

"I've read the principal ideas, and I think they're sound," Hermione replied.

"So I'm not going too fast or too slow?" Voldemort checked. Personally he would have just liked to wipe out all muggleborns and not allow anymore into their world, but he knew that wasn't really a viable option, so he had to settle for twisting the laws to hopefully ensure less of them polluted the wizarding world.

"I think the pacing is perfect," Hermione said. "We don't want to scare people and have them rebel against us, but at the same time, we don't want to be seen to be doing nothing and alienate everyone who helped us gain the power we've now got."

"You know, you should really go and work at the Ministry," Voldemort remarked, getting to his feet and swinging Scorpius up into his arms. "I could use you in the Minister's office to ensure everything goes according to the plans."

"I'm not sure I have time," Hermione said with a slight shrug.

Technically she was in partnership with Daphne Greengrass. After Daphne had stayed with her at the end of her pregnancy, the two witches had struck up a close friendship and once the war had been won, Hermione had given Daphne the financial backing she'd needed to really set up her own jewellery business. So far the business was going great guns, with Daphne the creative genius who designed and made the jewellery and Hermione keeping the books balanced.

"Your business venture doesn't take up all of your time," Voldemort said. "You could still work with Daphne and still be in the Minister's office. Who knows when the time is right, you might even become the next Minister for Magic."

"I'll think about it," Hermione promised, smiling slightly at the thought of being Minister for Magic.

"Talk it over with Draco," Voldemort suggested. "I'm sure he'll agree you can do both jobs and still have plenty of time for this little one."

As if he knew he was being talked about, Scorpius raised his chubby hands and patted Voldemort's face. "Pa-pa."

"I don't believe it, he spoke," Hermione gasped.

"That's because he's a good boy," Voldemort chuckled, grinning at his grandson. "Aren't you Scorpius?"

"Pa-pa," Scorpius repeated, stroking Voldemort's face.

"Can you say mama?" Hermione asked her son, plucking him from her father's arms. "Mama," she repeated slowly.

"Pa-pa," Scorpius gurgled, reaching for Voldemort.

"That's my boy," Voldemort chuckled. "Just wait until Lucius hears about his. He'll be so jealous that I'm Scorpius's favourite grandfather."

"You don't know that," Hermione retorted. "It could just be because you're here."

"Or because Scorpius loves me the most," Voldemort gloated, kissing his grandson who continued to say pa-pa.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her father, and saying goodbye, she headed home to the manor with Scorpius. She found Draco in their bedroom and as he made a fuss of their son, she broke the news that not only had he missed Scorpius's first words, but neither of them had won their bet.

"Seriously?" Draco questioned, looking down at his son in his arms with horror. "He didn't say my name?"

"Nope, I couldn't even get him to say mine," Hermione replied with a sigh. "It was all about pa-pa."

"I always said your father was very charismatic," Draco said with a slight chuckle. "Looks like he's charmed Scorpius."

"Looks like it," Hermione agreed. "Although father was thrilled. No doubt he'll rub it in Lucius's face that he was the grandfather Scorpius spoke to first."

"I'm sure father will love that," Draco laughed. "Now about our bet. How about we continue it, and just see which of our names he'll say first."

"Same conditions?"

"Yes, the loser is at the winner's mercy for an entire weekend."

"Okay," Hermione replied with a nod as she turned to Scorpius. "Come on Scorp, help Mummy win the bet. Say mama. Mama."

"No, say dada," Draco urged his son. "Dada. Dada."

In response to his parents, Scorpius pursed his lips and blew a wet raspberry at the pair. Neither Hermione nor Draco could help but laugh at their son and his stubbornness.

"This kid is going to be such a handful," Draco remarked.

"Yeah, but he's worth it," Hermione replied with a wistful smile. "Without him, I wouldn't be here."

"Don't dwell on the past," Draco urged. He knew that whenever Hermione thought about what the Order had done to her, she ended up feeling guilty even though in his eyes she had nothing to feel guilty over.

"I'll try not to," Hermione promised.

"Good, now come on, I've got a surprise for you," Draco said, taking hold of his girlfriend's hand.

Draco's surprise was a rooftop picnic. Even though it wasn't that warm outside the roof of the manor was controlled by a weather charm and it was perfectly warm as the family of three settled down to enjoy an afternoon together. Draco had even moved Scorpius's play mat out onto the roof and Hermione sat him on the mat and watched as he instantly stuffed a dragon cuddly toy into his mouth to suck for a few moments before he curled up and drifted off to sleep, still clutching the dragon in his arms.

"I'll never get over how quick that kid falls asleep," Draco chuckled as he focused on his girlfriend. "So how did things go with your father? Do you approve of his new legislations?"

"I do," Hermione replied.

Quickly she told Draco about her father's proposition and she wasn't too surprised when Draco agreed with Voldemort. Like her father, Draco believed she could manage both a job at the Ministry as well as keeping her interest in Daphne's jewellery business. He was also confident she would have enough time for her family as he knew just how much he and Scorpius meant to Hermione.

"I'll give it some serious thought," Hermione decided.

"You do that, and in the mean time I've got something for you," Draco said. Reaching into the picnic basket, he handed Hermione a small package wrapped in green paper and tied with silver ribbon.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Open it and see," Draco replied.

Carefully pulling off the ribbon and tearing off the paper, Hermione opened a small wooden box to find a new water globe nestled in gold tissue paper. Pulling the water globe out of the box, she found the image inside was of a couple who looked just like her and Draco having a picnic. However, when she looked closer she saw the male figure was down on one knee and held a sparkling diamond ring in his hands.

"What the…" Hermione's words trailed off as she turned to face Draco only to find he was now on one knee with a beautiful diamond ring in his hand.

"Hermione, will you marry me?" he asked simply.

Hermione looked between her boyfriend and the ring he was holding and the water globe before answering in the affirmative and throwing her arms around Draco. "Yes, yes, of course I'll marry you."

Connecting their lips, Draco slid the ring onto Hermione's finger. "Thank Merlin you said yes, or else I would have looked rather stupid having had the water globe made to commemorate our engagement."

"As if I would ever say anything but yes," Hermione replied with a large smile. "I love you Draco, and I can't wait to become your wife."

Basking in their happiness, the couple spent the rest of the afternoon camped on the roof, enjoying a romantic picnic. After everything they'd had to overcome to get their happy ending, they were going to enjoy every minute of it. Dumbledore and the Order had tried to break them, but they'd failed. Not only were Draco, Hermione and Scorpius together as a family, but Voldemort reigned supreme and the dark were now in control of the wizarding world. Everything was perfect, and Hermione couldn't wait to see what the future held in the new world she was going to help her father create.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **A/N – I want to thank people for reading this story. I also want to thank the majority of people for the reviews they left for this story. It did feel as though there were certain people only reading this story to complain every chapter, so I appreciate the ones who respected the fact this was my story and it was my right to write it however I wanted.**

 **T** **here will be no longer stories published this year, although I will be posting some one shots and collection pieces in December.** **However, I will be back next year with plenty more stories, so thanks for reading.**


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